


Sugar High

by HopeRebel



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Battle of the Bands, Drinking, Empire Records Vibes, Enemies to Lovers, Enthusiastic Consent, F/M, Oral Sex, Vaginal Sex, active contraceptive use, the author has chosen to ignore all canon deaths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:20:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22590901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeRebel/pseuds/HopeRebel
Summary: “Miss Johnson,” he clipped out.“Mister Ren,” she replied. She thought it was so pompous of him to have named his fellow band mates the Knights of Ren after himself. “Can I have the pen back?”“Why? You’re the one that cut in line.”She glanced around him. “As you can see, there isn’t actually a line,” she gestured behind him. “Just me and you. And does it really matter who signs up first?”Kylo smirked at her then. “It clearly does to you.”She hated it when he was right, and she hated giving him the satisfaction of knowing when he was right. “Fine.” She stepped aside and waved to the clipboard. “Go ahead.”---Five Saturdays, four local bands, one beloved dive bar. What could go wrong? Or, when Maz Kanata hosts a Battle of the Bands competition, Rey Johnson and Kylo Ren find themselves both pitted against one another, and drawn together as the weeks go on.Based on this prompt fromabbytheatre08: Rey and Kylo are in separate bands that are consistently competing with each other.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 10
Kudos: 42
Collections: For one is both and both are one in love: The Reylo Fanfiction Anthology's Valentine's Day Exchange





	1. Sign-Ups

**Author's Note:**

  * For [abbytheatre08](https://archiveofourown.org/users/abbytheatre08/gifts).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maz Kanata decides to host a Battle of the Bands competition at her bar for the month of February.

[ ](https://imgur.com/3cK2bZt)

Rey Johnson and her friends Rose, Kaydel, and Gwen were sitting in a booth at Maz’s Place, chatting about their various workdays, when Maz Kanata herself came up to their booth. “Okay girlies, I know you won’t let me down,” she interrupted, and slapped a vibrant flyer onto the table. “I expect you to sign up for this and follow through. You can’t just let the boys be the only ones playing.” With that she winked, and headed off with her stack of flyers to talk to the other patrons in the bar.

Rose Tico picked up the flyer and read to the rest of the group, “Battle of the bands! Five weeks of live music every Saturday night this February, starting on the first. Round robin competition, may the best band win.” She was grinning her particular brand of infectious grin, and the glee was palpable on her round face.

“What’s the fine print say? There’s always fine print,” Gwen Phasma asked as Rose handed her the flyer. She started reading through the rest of the flyer as the other three girls waited, concentration knitting her precise brows together underneath her pixie-cut platinum blonde hair.

“Well?” Rey asked after Gwen set the paper down.

“It’s actually pretty straight forward. Maz has posted sign-ups by the bar. We agree to play for five weeks, and there’s a cash prize for the first and second place bands on the last night. We don’t get a cut of the cover charge any night, but it also says we don’t have to play original music. In fact, it says, covers encouraged for audience participation.”

Kaydel Ko Connix piped up. “Well, that’s kind of a relief to not have to have originals every week. But it sucks to play and potentially not get a cut.” She started to fidget with one of her dark blonde space buns.

“Who says we won’t come in first or second?” Rose asked optimistically. “I mean, who else is likely to sign up for this? The older guys, yeah?” She raised her pointer finger, as the other girls nodded. Maz was friends with four regulars who could charitably be considered a jam band that just decided to never stop playing their favorite music from when they were younger. Rose raised her middle finger to join her first one. “And Poe and Paige’s band. They’ll be all over this, even if they’re kind of a chaotic mess. Who else?”

Rey thought Rose never should have asked that question. Right as she was lowering her drink to answer, _he_ walked in. Kylo Ren. Frontman to the local band Kylo & the Knights of Ren. Inevitably, his band always got the choicest time slots at every gig, and had a gaggle of doe-eyed fangirls following them around. She’d call them groupies if she’d ever actually seen any of the guys go home with them. But she hadn’t. She could tell Kylo was glowering from across the bar, and she realized at the same time, that both he and Rose had noticed she was staring at him.

“Shit,” was all Rey said, and the other girls all knew exactly who prompted that reaction from her. It was no secret that neither Rey nor Kylo could stand each other. Rey pulled her attention back to her friends. “Alright. Well. Let’s do this. Let’s beat the shit out of the other bands. How long do we have until the first night of the battle?”

Kaydel checked her phone and the flyer. “It says there’s a mandatory band meeting for everyone who signs up next Wednesday the fifteenth. So, we’ve got a week and a half ‘til that, and another week and a half after that until the first night of the battle.”

Rey took a swig of her beer. “So, we’re all in? Spending a month playing here at Maz’s?” She held her bottle up, as her band mates all cheersed her and shouted their assent. From her periphery, she watched as Kylo rolled his eyes in their direction and headed towards the sign up board. “If you’ll excuse me,” she said to her friends and headed that way too. She heard Gwen chuckle darkly behind her.

She got to the clipboard right ahead of Kylo, and slipped in front of him. He reached over her head for the pen though, right as she was about to grab it. Rey let out a small huff, and turned around to look up at him, crossing her arms over his chest. Did he have to be so tall? Objectively, he was handsome. Subjectively, he was an asshole. Moody and condescending, none of their interactions ever seemed to be pleasant.

“Miss Johnson,” he clipped out.

“Mister Ren,” she replied. She thought it was so pompous of him to have named his fellow band mates the Knights of Ren after himself. “Can I have the pen back?”

“Why? You’re the one that cut in line.”

She glanced around him. “As you can see, there isn’t actually a line,” she gestured behind him. “Just me and you. And does it really matter who signs up first?”

Kylo smirked at her then. “It clearly does to you.”

She hated it when he was right, and she hated giving him the satisfaction of knowing when he was right. “Fine.” She stepped aside and waved to the clipboard. “Go ahead.”

He stepped forward and signed his band up, listing their name, the individual names of the members of the band, and a contact phone number. As Rey watched, Kylo recapped the pen, and rather than handing it to her, he placed it back on the clipboard, and walked away. She stared after him for a moment, before realizing that he was neither going to apologize nor say good bye.

With that, she went ahead and signed the girls up. Called The Rebelles, they had been playing together for over two years. Rey fronted the band and Kaydel played rhythm guitar, while Gwen set the bass line and Rose played the drums. Gwen had actually originally played with the Knights of Ren, but had defected to the girls when they had put up notices looking for a female bassist. There were no hard feelings over the switch, but there wasn’t exactly any love lost either between the two former band mates.

When Rey returned to the table, Gwen asked, “And how was the ‘supreme leader?’”

“Oh, chipper as always,” Rey sarcastically replied. “But let’s talk about happier things. Like what should we start practicing for these battles?”

The four girls eagerly dove into the planning stages of how best to craft their performances, and when to practice together, so that they could win the battle of the bands.

* * *

Maz’s Place was a combination dive bar and venue space. All one giant room, the walls and ceiling were black, while the bar itself was old, worn wood paneling. The floor was concrete, and it was always loud. It drew an eclectic mix of older regulars, who usually stuck to the bar and its black stools, and those who came for the different music. Maz wasn’t picky herself, and was usually happy to have just about any local band play in the venue. If they got raucous and trashed any part of her bar, backstage or onstage though, then there was hell to pay, and the band never came back. Word like that traveled fast in the city, and usually everyone was great to Maz and treated the venue with respect. It wasn’t much, but it was a venerated institution, and everyone who’d ever played in the city had played at Maz’s at least once. Which is why it surprised Rey that Rose had been exactly right, and only four bands total had signed up for Maz’s battle of the bands.

The four bands had ranged themselves around the room, clumped together while Maz sat up on stage. Despite her small stature and her absurd coke-bottle eyeglasses, she surveyed the people in front of her the way a general might their troops about to engage in battle. The thought made Rey snort a little, since it was just a battle of the bands, not a real battle. Phasma elbowed her and glared down at her, whispering, “Pay attention.”

Rey raised her hands in small mock defeat. “I am, I am.” She continued to survey the bands around her. Along with her and the rest of the Rebelles, there was the four-man band, Los Cantina Boys sprawled out in a booth. The band was a study in opposites. One half was represented by a distinguished and charming elder Black gentleman, Lando Calrissian, who was their front man, and their bassist, Charles Threepio, a blond man with ramrod-straight posture and unerring manners. How he had gotten into music was a mystery to everyone except the other Boys. Poe had tried to call him “Chuck” once, and he had about had a conniption fit, insisting that he was either Charles or Threepio, and nothing else. The other half of Los Cantina Boys were as laidback, scruffy, and smiling as Threepio was not. Han Solo played the guitar to Lando’s frontman, and Chewie (no one knew anything else about his name past that) played the drums with facial hair to make ZZ Top envious. No one was entirely sure for how long they’d been playing together, how long they’d known each other, or how exactly they had met Maz. But they’d been a staple group of the bar for as long as the bar had been Maz’s, so no one really questioned it.

Rose had also been correct about Poe and Paige’s band showing up. Paige Tico was Rose’s older sister, slightly taller and slightly more slender than her younger sibling, and half of the lead vocals along with her best friend, Poe Dameron. He was the quintessential charmer, with a perfect white smile and curly black hair, just beginning to show some grays. The two of them were always throwing around crazy band ideas and new band names. For now, they were calling themselves the Resistance, although no one in the band (or outside of the band) was quite sure what they were resisting. Mostly, they just wanted to have fun on stage. Along with Poe and Paige, their friends Finn Storm and Snap Wexley rounded out the band. Finn played the bass, Paige played lead guitar, and Snap was their drummer. Paige had argued for a long while that Poe needed to play an instrument too, not just sing, and sometimes he listened to her and played rhythm guitar. Sometimes. He was actually a talented guitar player, just not super focused. Rose was currently hugging her sister, and squealing about how excited she was to play against her for the next few weekends. Being a good older sister, Paige was humoring her, but everyone could see that she was happy about it too. Finn was leaning back in his chair, playing idly with one of his twists, while he talked with Poe and Snap, whose expression usually vacillated between an impressive resting bitch face and pure elated joy. Right now it was set to rbf.

Kylo & the Knights of Ren were a three man band. And men only, like Los Cantina Boys. Except broodier. And usually dressed in black. It was a stereotype, but they all wore it well. Kylo, with his dark black hair, porcelain features, and classical stature was the obvious frontman. He had also done away with the rock adage of having a front man and a separate guitarist with mystique, and was instead both at the same time. His redhead friend, Armitage Hux, played the drums. He also had the pinched look of a man who never smiled, but instead was silently always judging everyone. Gwen said he was actually a “pretty nice guy,” but Rey wasn’t quite sure if she believed her. After Gwen had left their band, they’d been forced to get a new bassist, and the one they found didn’t quite seem to fit their persona, but he was a great musician. While he dressed in black to fit their type, he was blond, tan, and always had a smile for everyone along with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. Kaydel had jokingly started calling him “Sunshine,” but his real name was actually Arthur Kershner. Nobody outside of the Knights of Ren called him Arthur anymore after Kaydel’s nickname stuck.

From her spot up on stage, Maz started to go over the rules of how the battle would work. “Alright. So. Thank you all for devoting your time and energy to this, especially after I told you that you aren’t getting any of the cover charge. Since there are four of you and five weeks, here’s what I’ve decided to do. Every week, you each get one song to showcase. Please play something people recognize. Or at least can vaguely drunkenly swing or sway to. I’m trying to bring people into the bar, not drive them away from it. So. The first week, everyone will play. I’ll have jars at the bar for voting on best overall of the night. Then the next three weeks will be comprised of head to head competitions. For week two, Kylo, you and your boys will be up against the Rebelles.” She paused for a moment while Rey and Rose both grimaced. “Thus, Poe and Lando, your bands will be against each other that week. Then for week three we have the Resistance versus the Knights of Ren and the Boys against the Rebelles. The fourth week is the last pairing that hasn’t happened yet: Boys and Kylo, Rebelles and Resistance.” Maz paused there while everyone considered the pairings for the weeks.

Kylo was the first to break the silence. “And the last week?”

Maz grinned widely. “The last week is just the top two bands in a head to head. The voting jars will have been tip jars all along. You get what you make from your jars, plus an even split from the other two bands’ jars. So, it’s up to you what your cash prize turns out to be.” The thought was electric across the room. This could either go very, very well for the top band, or very, very poorly for the bottom one. Rey was ecstatic, and she could see everyone else in the room was too.

After the hubbub had died down, Maz asked, “Any other questions?” She paused, waited, and when no one spoke up, she continued. “Ok then. I’ll see you on the first. The order for the first night will be Los Cantina Boys, Kylo & the Knights of Ren, The Resistance, and The Rebelles last. Good luck.” Then quieter, she added, “And thank you all.”

As the bands dispersed, Rey watched as Han started to head towards Kylo and Hux, only to have Chewie put his hand on his shoulder and shake his head. Han sighed, and turned the other way. Kylo hadn’t noticed it at all, but Rey could tell that Hux had. For a second, he frowned even deeper than normal, then shook it off. Rey thought it was interesting, and weird, but was soon swept away into conversation with her friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The bands start playing next chapter!


	2. Week 1: The Battle of the Bands Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The four bands square off for first night of the competition, introducing themselves and their sounds.

[ ](https://imgur.com/8PzN2Sf)

The first week of the competition, Rey couldn’t stop her hands from feeling like they were about to vibrate apart. She was awash with nervous energy, and she spent the whole day trying to get rid of just enough of it, so that she could function and channel it into her playing that night. So far, she hadn’t done a great job. But on the upside, she hadn’t had to drink any coffee that day either. 

Maz had asked everyone to get there about two hours ahead of when the first band was supposed to play so they could unload and stage all of their gear. The girls had also guessed that the two hour padding was to make sure all of the bands were there early enough, especially given that the stereotype of late musicians was a stereotype for a reason. Rey knew that Rose would be the latest of their group, but that was fine because she was trying to wrangle Paige, who was trying to wrangle Poe. Finn, Snap, and Threepio were quite capable of showing up on time. Kylo and Hux had surprised Rey by being there early, and were helping Maz unload cases of beer behind the bar. She hadn’t expected either of them to be helpful to anyone but themselves. Sunshine ambled into the bar around the same time as Chewie and Han, Lando strutting in behind them. Finally, the Tico sisters came in with Poe in their wake. 

Maz had already cleared an area backstage, and marked it off for each of the bands so that they wouldn’t get their equipment jumbled together. It would also help with loading and unloading the stage in between their sets. Maz had also posted a laminated sign just offstage outlining the schedule for the weeks ahead so that they wouldn’t forget:

> Round Robin Play-Off -   
>  Week 1 - Everyone: LCB, Kylo, Resistance, Rebelles  
>  Week 2 - Kylo vs Rebelles / Resistance vs LCB  
>  Week 3 - Resistance vs Kylo / LCB vs Rebelles  
>  Week 4 - Rebelles vs Resistance / LCB vs Kylo  
>  Week 5 - current 1st vs current 2nd  
>  No whining or complaining! You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit!   
>  This is the order I want to hear you in lovelies.   
>  -Maz (ps. thank you again)

Maz had also asked them kindly not to drink until after they had finished playing, with the exception of Chewie, to whom she gave a wink, and said, “Make yourself happy, dear. I know you can handle yourself.”

Since Los Cantina Boys were up first, Chewie, Han, and Threepio started to set up the stage for their set, while Lando “supervised” from offstage. After Rey had made sure that all of the Rebelles’ gear was ready to go in their area, the gals headed into the main bar area to wait it out until their set. Kaydel was bouncing on her tiptoes, and as Rey watched the other band members, she could see that everyone was dealing with their nervousness in their own ways. Chewie had a bottle of beer up with his drum kit, Gwen was slowly flipping her phone around her fingers, and she watched Sunshine try and crack a joke to Hux. It was to no avail though, Hux didn’t smile, although Sunshine seemed to be smiling enough for the both of them. Rey’s eyes continued to track around the bar as she sipped her ginger ale. She saw Poe sneak a shot, and watched Kylo sitting at the bar, his fingers moving through what she knew must be the chords and movements of his band’s song performance for the night.

Once the band was all set up, Lando beamed and waved to Maz. Han had his guitar slung across his shoulders, and he took a step back from the lights. Threepio was nervously shifting from one foot to the other, while Chewie was stretching his long arms from his seat behind his drums. Lando took his microphone down from his stand, and handed it over to Maz as she got up on stage. 

“Thank you all for coming to the first night of the battle of the bands!” Maz yelled out over the crowd as they hooted and cheered for her. She raised her hands, and everyone quieted a bit. “Please show your support for whichever bands you thought did the best in the form of dead presidents or a rogue treasury secretary if you feel so inclined in the fishbowls at the bar! It’s the only way the bands are getting paid, besides your applause. So please, make them feel welcome. First up, my very dear old friends, Los Cantina Boys!” 

She handed the microphone back over to Lando, who had acquired a half cape from somewhere and swept it over his shoulders. He replaced the microphone into its holder, and the lights switched over to their performance spots. Han and Threepio launched into the opening riffs of Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s “Takin’ Care of Business” to the whoops and hollers of the audience. A petite woman at the bar who was drinking with Maz let out a wolf whistle, which in turn led Han to burst out in a huge shit-eating grin. Rey also noticed that Kylo had left the bar area, and was sitting as far away as possible from it. _When did that happen?_ she wondered. Not for long though, as she became swept along with the rest of the bar by the energy of the band. Sure, they were just four old friends having a grand old time on stage. It was still infectious music, and she loved performances like that. Lando was strutting around like a peacock in his cape, giving his all to the lyrics:

> _If you ever get annoyed, look at me I'm self-employed_  
>  _I love to work at nothing all day_  
>  _And I'll be taking care of business (every day)_  
>  _Taking care of business (every way)_  
>  _I've been taking care of business (it's all mine)_  
>  _Taking care of business and working overtime, work out_  
>  _If it were easy as fishin' you could be a musician_  
>  _If you could make sounds loud or mellow_  
>  _Get a second-hand guitar, chances are you'll go far_  
>  _If you get in with the right bunch of fellows_  
>  _People see you having fun just a-lying in the sun_  
>  _Tell them that you like it this way_

It was the right sort of song for the guys Rey thought. Nothing too serious, something fun, something that made them happy. When the music was over, she cheered along with everyone else, and clapped along as the guys took their bows. Chewie for his part finished chugging his beer after he bowed, and then let out a roar. Everyone in the bar cheered again. Rey noticed that finally Chewie’s antics had lifted a bit of the glower from Kylo’s face. 

Next up was Kylo & the Knights of Ren. Rey shifted in her seat, which Rose noticed. “Hey, you good with watching them? I know you guys don’t exactly, y’know, get along.”

Rey huffed a little. “Yeah. I’ll be fine. I mean. Just because we all run in the same music circles doesn’t mean we actually have to interact.” Not like she wanted to interact with him. Yeah, ok, fine. He was attractive. More than attractive. Before she’d ever actually ever interacted with him she’d found him handsome. His wavy black hair was thick, and offset his striking, pale features perfectly. And the man filled out a leather jacket and a pair of jeans like no one else. But he was an asshole. Completely. Totally. An asshole. She’d seen him lash out in anger after sets, and their interactions had always been clipped and unpleasant. So, it sucked that he was handsome. It sucked even more that he was a truly talented musician and singer. Rey wanted to just put her head on the bar table. Or slide off of her barstool. But that wouldn’t exactly support her strong frontwoman image. She realized that Rose was still looking at her while she had retreated into her own little world. Her friends really were the best, and Rose was the best of the best. “Really. I’ll be fine. I can listen to his music without getting angry.”

“If you say so, hun,” Rose told her, and gave her shoulders a squeeze.

Kaydel had been watching Los Cantina Boys unload the stage, and where Kylo, Hux, and Sunshine were waiting to load their instruments and gear. “Hey, guys. Does anything strike you as sorta, funny? In like how they’re working around each other?”

Rey started to watch the two groups of men. It was like watching two sets of polar opposite magnets being pushed near each other, only to remain perfectly apart. Gwen looked up from her phone, where she had been restudying her bass lines in between managing her emails. “Oh. Yeah. Well. Han and Kylo have kind of a, uh, troubled relationship.”

The other three girls all looked at Gwen. Rey spoke first, “What sort of trouble?”

“Really? You guys don’t know this? I thought everyone in the music industry in this city knew. Ok. So. Umm. Han is his dad. Kylo’s. I mean, that’s his stage name. You’ll have to ask him his real name. That I won’t tell.” Gwen had laid it all in such a straight forward manner that Rey just gaped at her. 

Kaydel started to giggle, “Rey, you kinda look like a fish.” At this, Rey slammed her jaw shut, and turned her attention back to the movements on stage. She could see it now, in the men’s stature, in their swagger. She’d always liked Han, and gotten along well with him. _Maybe that was part of why Kylo didn’t like her?_ She wondered what had happened between them, and how they were going to work in such close proximity to one another for the next few weeks still. 

“Wait, Gwen, the lady at the bar with Maz. The one who whistled. Is she…?” Rey trailed off, asking.

“Leia. She’s Han’s wife. Yeah.” Rey considered her again. She didn’t look like a woman who worked in the music industry, much less a woman married to a musician and the mother of a musician. _Maybe that was part of it too?_

By this time, Kylo & the Knights of Ren were all set up. He leaned into his microphone, “Maz, would you like to say anything?”

She shouted back from the bar, “Nope! Stage is all yours my boy!” That elicited what looked like the start of a genuine smile out of him, but was quickly replaced by what Rey knew was his stage persona expression. He always seemed to look a little bit angry, and a little bit like he was determined to prove something. Rey couldn’t say that she was surprised when Kylo started to sing the opening lyrics of “Hurricane” by I Prevail:

> _Tell me I was never good enough_  
>  _Remind me of the demons that I've been running from_  
>  _Tell me who the hell you thought I was_  
>  _Or just blame it on the person, the person I've become_  
>  _Lately, I don't give a fuck_  
>  _‘Cuz I can't be myself when I'm with anyone_  
>  _Maybe, I'm already gone_  
>  _I'll never be the same_  
>  _It hit me like a hurricane_  
>  _It hit me like a tidal wave_  
>  _And I don't know why I drown my mind_  
>  _In everything they say_

Rey found herself drawn into his performance, even as she didn’t want to be. His singing was magnetic, and while she knew Sunshine and Hux were up there too, she could feel her focus being pulled only to Kylo. It felt like he truly felt every lyric he was singing, pouring them out into the audience. She understood why the band had a following, even as she hated feeling like she was falling under the spell of his voice. Once the song ended, the bar erupted into applause and cheers, jarring Rey back to herself. Her band mates were cheering along, and she saw even Kylo’s parents were cheering for him at the bar too. When she looked back up to the stage though, she realized he was only looking directly at her, stage lights be damned. 

She mumbled something about having to go to the bathroom, and dashed to the ladies’ room to splash water on her face and stand with her back up against the tile to catch her breath. It took her a few moments to realize that the pounding sound she could hear wasn’t a bass, but her own heart. She willed it to beat slower and quieter before she left the bathroom, and by that time, The Resistance was fully set up on stage. 

What she didn’t expect was that Kylo would be sitting in the end seat right next to the exit to the bathroom. “How’d you like our song?”

Rey stopped mid-step, and schooled her emotions. “It wasn’t half bad I guess.”

Kylo chuckled darkly and took a sip of his beer. “Well, thanks for the honest feedback.”

She could feel blood beginning to rise in her face, and she turned quickly before her blush could give her away. She slipped back into her seat next to Rose right as Poe and Paige started trying to introduce their band simultaneously. Thankfully, the bar and the band both laughed, and The Resistance settled into their single set. Paige and Poe usually arrived at music that sort of rode the fence between folk and punk, and so for the first night they had chosen The Menzingers’ “After the Party.” The two of them were a charismatic front duo, and usually had just about everyone in the audience halfway in love or lust with them by the end of their shows. It helped too that Finn and Snap were usually smiling happy fellows during performances. Poe was dancing around the stage, draping his arm around Finn first, then backing up into Paige, then turning his back on the audience to sing towards Snap at his drums. Bouncing across the stage, Poe’s chaotic energy spilled into the bar, and Rey and Rose were bouncing along as Poe sang:

> _Everybody wants to get famous_  
>  _But you just want to dance in a basement_  
>  _You don't care if anyone is watching_  
>  _Just as long as you stay in motion_  
>  _We put miles on these old jean jackets_  
>  _Got caught up in the drunk conversations_  
>  _But after the party, it's me and you_  
>  _After the party, it's me and you_

It was exactly the mood booster Rey needed before The Rebelles’ set. As the members of The Resistance unloaded the stage, Rey and her band mates exchanged banter and compliments with them. Aside from the connection of the Tico sisters, they’d all been friends for a few years now, and had had their ups and downs in the music scene. Paige basically tackled Rey and Rose in a tandem hug, while Kaydel jumped up and down in front of Poe and Finn, clapping with glee. Only Gwen was reserved, but that was Gwen. Paige leaned in conspiratorially to the girls, “Ready to kick some ass?” and gave them a wink and another hug. Then she helped rope her other band mates into loading their gear into Poe’s black XTerra. 

Rey set herself up on stage left, while Kaydel took stage right. Phasma didn’t like being up in the front, and so she always perched up behind Kaydel on the drum platform to the right of Rose. Rey took her old blue and white Fender Stratocaster out of its case, and slung it over her shoulder, testing a few chords before setting her mic to her height. To her right, Kaydel was doing the same, while she could hear Gwen tuning, and Rose checking her bass drum and high hat. She turned to the other girls, “Alright ladies, are we all ready?” They all nodded. They were gambling, but the hope was that it would pay off. They knew the other bands were all picking upbeat, guy-driven songs. As a female band, they were hoping that playing to their strengths and their femininity was going to be worth it. Rey looked out into the crowd, and spoke into the microphone, “Thank you Maz so much for having us. We’re The Rebelles!”

Once the cheering in the house died down, Rey began singing, without backing from the band:

> _There ain't no way that I could change your mind_  
>  _There ain't no way, I tried a thousand times_

They’d picked “The Storm” by ZZ Ward, knowing they were closing the evening, and hoping to draw the audience in. As soon as the instruments all came in, Rey looked over to see Kaydel smiling, and knew they had chosen wisely. Rey looked out into the audience, happy to be doing what she loved, continuing to sing:

> _You walk straight down that gravel road_  
>  _I cried and begged you not to go_  
>  _The wind was tearing through the sycamore trees_  
>  _The clothesline blowing in the breeze_  
>  _There ain't no way that I could change your mind_  
>  _There ain't no way, I tried a thousand times_  
>  _Singing, O Lord, won't you save me? O Lord, keep me warm_  
>  _Whoa, Lord, won't you save, O Lord, from the storm?_

Rey knew it wasn’t the happiest song, and she wasn’t pulling from the happiest of memories to connect with it. But the singing itself, the performing, being with her friends, in front of an audience, that part was happy. That part was worth it. 

As the band finished, and they took their bows, Rey saw Kylo clapping slowly from his spot, a small smirk on his face. She dismissed thinking about it once they were offstage though, and all the gals were smiling broadly, even Phasma. Rose was grinning broadly, and her black ponytail was bobbing. “So, we should have our round of drinks now finally!”

“Indeed we should!” Kaydel agreed, and the two of them walked arm in arm towards the bar. Gwen and Rey followed them, and to Rey’s chagrin, the only empty place left was next to Kylo. She sat down anyways, and decided to try and make the best of it.

“So, how’s your fishbowl doing?” she asked him after she had ordered her drink.

“Honestly,” he replied, “I haven’t checked, and I kinda don’t care.”

Rey stared at him for a moment. She didn’t think she’d ever have a point in her life where she didn’t care about money, even with her current very steady daytime mechanic’s job. She recovered, “So, then you’re doing this, because…?”

“Because I love playing, and Maz asked nicely. I assume that’s why we’re all playing. If any of us actually cared about making true money in music, none of us would likely be volunteering to play for five Saturdays at Maz’s.” 

He wasn’t wrong, and Rey warred with whether or not to tell him. In the interest of trying to create a smooth path for the month, she went with it. “You do have a point there. Do you know why she’s hosting this anyways?”

Kylo took a drink of his beer, and Maz arrived with her drink, so she did the same. “I don’t actually. She’s pretty cagey when it comes to her motivations. I just figured it was something that made her happy.”

“I can’t see Maz doing anything that makes her unhappy,” Rey agreed. “Well,” and at this she held up her drink for him to cheers it, “may the best band win.”

He brought his glass to hers, and looked into her eyes, “May the best band win, Rey.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why yes, yes, I did create a Spotify playlist of all the songs that will be featured in this story. And no, no, it will not be available until after author reveals. But, it will be linked into the end notes in the last chapter once the anonymous period has ended!
> 
> And hey, the anonymous period has ended, so it's now linked in the last chapter!


	3. Week 2: Why Does It Have To Be You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey discovers why Maz is hosting the Battle of the Bands, and she does not necessarily deal with it well.

[ ](https://imgur.com/8PzN2Sf)

After learning the first week that Kylo and Hux had arrived early to help Maz out, Rey decided that it would be for the best if she came early and helped too. She even managed to convince Kaydel to come early and help along with her. Rose would have happily joined them, but she was still in charge of wrangling Paige and Poe. When Rey picked Kaydel up, the other girl said, “You know, I really just said yes because I love riding in your car, right?”

Rey busted up laughing, because it was true, Kay and Rose both had a strange little love for her car. Finn and Poe too, now that she thought about it. Rey’s car was a 1966 silver Chevelle with white racing stripes and a white ragtop. It’s previous owner had gifted it with the license plate “TRBLSOM,” and Rey had kept it when she fixed the car up. She had found the wreck of the chassis with about half of its engine in Plutt’s junkyard, and rebuilt it herself. It was her baby in a way, and one of her only happy memories from high school. Her friends respected that, and so they respected her rules for the car. Number one of which was that no one else drove the Chevelle. Number two was that Rey always chose the music, but the passenger could choose the volume. As soon as Kaydel sat down, she rolled her window down, and turned the volume way up. Rey whooped, and they headed off to Maz’s.

When the girls arrived, and after unloading their instruments, Maz got them working on restocking liquor bottles at the bar. She had already sent Kylo and Hux to double check the sound and light boards. Kaydel was crouched behind the bar, and calling out bottles that needed backups and replacements to Rey, who would then run back to the stockroom for them. They’d made it through the tequilas and whiskeys, and were onto the vodkas, when Rey realized that the bottles they were looking for weren’t in the stockroom.

“Hey Maz, where do you keep all the fancy flavored vodkas?” she shouted across the bar to where Maz was working on paperwork in a booth.

“Back in my office. Should be by the filing cabinets,” Maz answered without looking up.

As Rey passed back by Kaydel, Kay chuckled, and whispered, “Now we know what she prefers.”

Maz shouted out, again without looking up, “Wrong girly! I like my Scotch, peaty and smoky. But for some reason these fruity vodkas always sprout legs and run off.” Kaydel fell over laughing, Rey started to double over in laughter as well, and Rey could have sworn she heard a laugh coming from the sound booth as well.

The vodkas were exactly were Maz said they would be, but as Rey picked them up and turned around, she saw a pile of letters on over-the-top embossed stationary tossed onto the corner of her desk. She set the bottles back down and looked at the letters. She knew she shouldn’t be snooping, but there was no reason for that sort of stationary in a bar like Maz’s. As soon as Rey picked up the letters she almost dropped them again. In bold font across the top they read “SNOKE ENTERPRISES.” Each of the letters was an increasingly stronger worded demand that Maz close her bar, and turn over ownership of it to Snoke. She read the most recent, from only a week prior, that said “I understand your pitiful little attempt to make some money through this mad scheme, but it will be to no avail. In a month I will own your bar, and there will no longer be an ‘indie’ music scene in this city. If you cannot repay the difference on the loan, I will repossess your bar, and you will be gone.” 

Rey’s vision clouded with red, and she set the letters back on the desk with shaking hands. At the last moment before leaving Maz’s office she remembered she had actually gone in there for vodka, and grabbed the bottles. 

When she got back behind the bar, Kaydel took one look at her face, and knew something was wrong. “Everything ok? You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”

“Snoke’s trying to force Maz out of business and steal the bar and make it a corporate music scene,” Rey answered quietly in a monotone. She took a shaky breath. “I think that’s why she’s running the battle of the bands. She’s trying to raise enough money to save the bar before March.”

“Shit. Wow. Shit. Fuck. That’s fucking awful.”

“Yeah.” Snoke was the worst part of the music industry in the city. He was part of a large media conglomerate that controlled most of the venues, and most of the bands. The Rebelles had never made it big because they refused to play at any of his venues. Snoke’s whole demeanor had always creeped Rey out. Suddenly, she remembered that Kylo & the Knights of Ren had played for Snoke for a number of years, and she was livid. She stood up suddenly from behind the bar where she had been crouching with Kaydel, and looked for Kylo. He was onstage, checking cords and amps, while Hux still stood back at the booth. The lights were on onstage, so he likely couldn’t see her glaring at him. She looked back at Kay. “Do Kylo & the Knights still play for Snoke?” she asked her.

Kaydel looked thoughtful for a moment. “I’m honestly not sure. I haven’t seen any flyers or ads that are linked to Snoke recently with him, but that doesn’t mean they’re not.” She paused for a minute, considering why Rey would have asked her that. “That would be really shitty of them to still be working for him while being here for Maz. Wouldn’t that be like some sort of conflict of interest?”

“Something like that.” Rey shook her head to clear her thoughts. “We should finish helping Maz here. And try and spread the word to get more people here.” 

“And get more people drinking,” Kaydel added. “I actually have a thought about that,” she said as she turned to the gins and miscellaneous liqueurs.

The rest of the band members came in around roughly the same time that they had the first week, and set all of their instruments and gear up in the same areas as the first week. Maz had marked a large check mark next to the first week on the laminated offstage sign, and added an addendum to the bottom: _If you want to drink before you play, talk to Leia, and pay before you drink._ When Rey read this, she looked over her shoulder at Kaydel, and asked, “This your doing?”

Kay smiled mischievously, “I may have spoken with Leia, who may have spoken with Maz. Leia agreed that Maz needs some more money going into the till, and she convinced her that she won’t let the artists get unruly. She may have also told me that she would be slipping some extra bills in with each drink ordered.”

Rey hadn’t met or spoken to Leia before, but she already liked her. She smiled, and replied, “I’ll pass the message along to everyone else then.” She did just that, letting both Rose and Gwen know about the threat of Maz losing the bar, and the drink deal. Then she and Rose went to talk to The Resistance members.

To say that they were spitting mad would almost be an understatement. Rey finished telling them about the letters that she had found, and Finn shouted, “WHAT?!?” Rose and Paige both jumped on him, grabbing to cover his mouth and shush him.

At the same time, Poe had started cursing under his breath, and Snap was staring up at the ceiling. Snap recovered first. “Okay. So, Maz could lose the bar. And then we’ll lose basically the last independent venue in this city. Dammit.”

Poe looked at Rey, “You said there was hope still though, too. What is it? What’s the plan?”

“Kaydel and Leia have convinced Maz to let us drink too. And Leia is helping to extra fund each drink we pay for. I’m suggesting anyone who can does the same. It’s not like Maz charges a ton for drinks anyways.” Rey paused and took a big breath. She hadn’t run this next part past anyone. “I also would like to suggest that we donate all of the fishbowl money back to Maz. We promote the hell out of it, and whoever takes first and second, we give it back.”

Rose and Finn answered simultaneously, “Of course.” Paige was nodding her head, and Poe smiled after a moment.

Snap wiped the bottom half of his face with his hand and said, “What the hell? She needs it more.”

“I’m sure we can convince Los Cantina Boys of this too,” Rose added. “I’m just not sure about Kylo’s band. Do you think they’ll go for this? I’m not sure they’re exactly the charitable sort.”

“Sunshine’s a nice enough guy, maybe let’s start with him?” Paige suggested to her sister. With everyone in agreement, Poe and Finn headed off to talk with Leia and the elder statesmen, while the Tico sisters went to corner Sunshine as nicely as possible. Rey wondered if she should even bother trying to talk to Kylo. _Maybe I’ll just ask Gwen to talk to Hux_ , she thought.

She didn’t get a chance to ask Gwen to do so before Kylo & the Knights of Ren set up for their set though. Rey wasn’t sure whether the sisters’ message had percolated into the band much past Sunshine either, although he did have a beer by his amp, so at least he had gotten the memo about drinks. Rey grabbed a whiskey ginger ale from Leia, and finally introduced herself and thanked her for her help. “No, thank you,” Leia responded sincerely. “We likely never would have known otherwise.” Rey hopped up onto a barstool and watched as Kylo fiddled with his amp and tuned his guitar. 

The house lights lowered and the stage lights came up on the band. “Thank everyone for coming out to the second week of Maz’s battle of the bands. We’re Kylo & the Knights of Ren, please tip your bartender.” Rey was a little surprised that he mentioned the bar and not the fishbowl, but only a little after their conversation the week before. 

Heavy guitar riffs swept Rey into Kylo’s performance as the band started to play “Heavy Is the Head,” originally by Zac Brown Band with Chris Cornell. She tried to decide if she was surprised or not by his choice of song. She was pretty sure that Kylo made the song choices. On the one hand, it was technically originally by a country band. On the other, it was unlike almost any other country song, and it had featured the late Soundgarden and Audioslave lead artist. Hux was sharing vocals with Kylo on this one, since it was closer to a duet almost. Again like the previous week, Rey felt herself drawn to Kylo’s performance, listening to his version of the lyrics:

> _No soul, knows his trouble_  
>  _High upon his throne_  
>  _Loved by few and judged by many_  
>  _He bears that weight alone_  
>  _It's a lifelong expedition_  
>  _Second guessing your decisions_  
>  _Trying to find out what's been missing_  
>  _And the pages keep on filling_  
>  _Crying out / Go and wake the king_  
>  _Call to arms / For those who kiss the ring_  
>  _Stand your ground / The walls are coming down_  
>  _It's do or die / Do or die_  
>  _Heavy is the head that wears the crown_

Also like the last week, she found Kylo’s eyes on her at the end of the song. This time, she willed her body not to react, and simply returned the polite clapping he had graced her performance with. The guys began to disconnect their instruments and break down the stage, so Rey grabbed her drink, and headed backstage. Now she made sure to ask Gwen to talk to Hux about the drink setup, and also possibly about the fishbowl profit sharing. She shrugged, and said, “Sure. Armie’ll probably go for it.” With that she turned towards him and shouted, “Hux! I want to part some of your neverending cashflow from you!”

In a moment she didn’t think quite possible, Hux smiled, rolled his eyes in what Rey was pretty sure was a joking manner, and shouted back, “What is it this time, Phasma?” He kept hefting parts of his drum kit out to the loading bay as they began to talk in a more normal volume. 

Rey had been so focused on Hux and Phasma’s interaction, that she hadn’t realized that Kylo had come up behind her, until she turned around and almost ran into his chest. Eye-level with the neckline of his tee shirt, Rey realized Kylo clearly didn’t have chest hair. _Not that it matters whether he has chest hair or not_ , she thought. _It doesn’t matter what he looks like without his shirt. Not at all._ Thankfully, these thoughts passed through her head fairly swiftly. She looked up into his face, and took a half step back. “Yes? What is it?” she asked.

“Everyone seems to be talking about something, but not to me,” he answered bluntly. Rey hadn’t expected that as an answer, and she didn’t know how to respond to it. Kylo stood there, his guitar case in one hand, and then he ran his other hand through his hair. “So, what is it? What’s going on that I should know about?”

Rey still didn’t know if he worked for Snoke, and she was still worried that he would potentially undermine their plan. And part of her was just plain angry that he had ever agreed to work for someone like Snoke. She knew she was a horrible liar, but she didn’t care, as she replied, “I really don’t know what you’re talking about. If something’s going on, they aren’t telling me either.” When she looked back at his eyes after she had spoken, she saw them harden, and they both knew she was lying. Rey felt like a stone had dropped into the pit of her stomach, but she couldn’t do anything about it now. She’d made her choice, and it was time for her to go on stage. 

The girls settled into their places, and Rose was up for introducing them from her drum set. “Hi all!” she shouted amidst the cheers. “We’re The Rebelles, and tonight we’re competing against Kylo & the Knights of Ren. So if you like us more, please visit our fishbowl!”

Rose started the drumbeat of their song, and the stone in the pit of Rey’s stomach sunk even lower. Up until just a few minutes ago, she had felt like she was exactly the person to sing this song, but suddenly, she felt anything but brave. She had to channel it anyways, so despite the emotional turmoil she was feeling, Rey started singing Sara Bareilles’ “Brave”:

> _You can be amazing_  
>  _You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug_  
>  _You can be the outcast_  
>  _Or be the backlash of somebody's lack of love_  
>  _Or you can start speaking up_  
>  _Nothing's gonna hurt you the way that words do_  
>  _And they settle 'neath your skin_  
>  _Kept on the inside and no sunlight_  
>  _Sometimes a shadow wins_  
>  _But I wonder what would happen if you_  
>  _Say what you wanna say_  
>  _And let the words fall out_  
>  _Honestly I wanna see you be brave_

Somehow, she wasn’t sure how, she made it through the song without constantly scouring the audience for Kylo. She poured herself into the song, shutting her eyes against the lights for much of it, thinking instead about singing the song to herself as a little girl. It only worked for so long though, and at the end of the song, the crowd jolted her back. Rose made a plea again for their fishbowl, and another reminder for everyone to have a well-lubricated, but safe evening, and Kaydel snorted into her microphone. Rey tore down her part of the stage in silence, and hauled everything out to her Chevelle as quickly as she could. 

She came back in to the backstage area having clearly missed something, as everyone, even Gwen was laughing. Finn had tears in his eyes he was laughing so hard, and Paige was about to fall over, except she had propped herself up on Snap. 

“You’ll just flirt with anyone, won’t you Dameron?” Gwen mock accused.

“Guilty,” Poe answered, raising his beer bottle to her before taking a drink.

“Ugh,” she huffed and rolled her eyes, as she hefted the case that held her bass, and took it out to her car.

Paige slung her arm around Poe’s shoulders, and took a sip of her own beer. “Well, I find it admirable that you’re willing to put yourself out there.” Rose just shook her head at her sister’s support of her bandmate. 

Rey wasn’t feeling in any better of spirits for having missed out on this particular moment of levity at Poe’s expense, so she headed to the back corner of the bar. She ordered a shot of bourbon and a drink, and slipped Leia an extra dollar for each. She downed her shot, and realized after she started her drink, a whiskey ginger ale, that she had staked out the same place that Kylo had “ambushed” her from last week after his set. She downed half of her drink before The Resistance had even finished setting up. She was in a sour mood, and worse, she knew it was all her fault. Worser still, she didn’t know how to fix it. Instead, her current plan, was to drink a lot, avoid Kylo at all costs, and leave her car here overnight to be reclaimed in the morning. She finished the rest of her drink, ordered another, and then asked for some water too. Then she thought, _Fuck it,_ and ordered another shot too.

The Resistance was competing first against Los Cantina Boys. After the requisite introductions, they started the over-played albeit still (annoyingly) catchy “Little Talks” by Of Monsters and Men. Rey knew that her assessment of it as over-played and annoying wasn’t entirely accurate, and just due to her current mood and increasing level of inebriation. But she also wasn’t sharing her opinions out loud, so she figured someone should thank her for her silence at least. To be fair to the band, Rey did love the songs that allowed for both Paige and Poe to sing, and weren’t quite the one-man-Poe-show. She tried to relax into her drink and enjoy their voices:

> _There's an old voice in my head_  
>  _That's holding me back_  
>  _Well tell her that I miss our little talks_  
>  _Soon it will all be over, and buried with our past_  
>  _We used to play outside when we were young_  
>  _And full of life and full of love_  
>  _Some days I don't know if I am wrong or right._  
>  _Your mind is playing tricks on you my dear_  
>  _'Cause though the truth may vary_  
>  _This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore_

By the end of the song, Rey was at least attempting to smile again, and she cheered for her friends, dropping her pocket change into their fishbowl. Since it was next to her and within arm’s reach anyways. She also ordered another whiskey ginger ale, and another water. _To be safe,_ she told herself. Rey also had the thought that she shouldn’t still have her keys at this point in the evening, and asked Maz if she would hold on to them for her. Maz eyed Rey, but didn’t say anything when she took the keys, and put them in the register drawer.

Finn and Rose came to where Rey was sitting, despite the negative vibes she was sure she was emanating. “Hey, you okay, kid?” Finn asked her, setting his hand gently on her shoulder, while Rose laid her head on Rey’s other shoulder. 

Rey took a big gulp of her drink. Thought about it. Then took an even larger gulp of her water. “I’m not sure. I’m pretty sure - No. I know I was an ass earlier. But I don’t know that he doesn’t deserve me being an ass. But I feel like an ass for being an ass. And I hate feeling like an ass for being an ass. And I hate being an ass…” she trailed off and looked up at Finn. “I’m sorry. I’m drunk, and it’s no excuse.”

“It’s not. But we still love you,” he reassured her. “Where are your keys?” he asked gently.

“Maz put them in the till,” she gestured limply. Finn looked over her head at Rose.

“I’ll get them and make sure she gets home,” Rose told him. “Stay with her?” she ask-demanded.

“Of course.” He stood next to Rey, sort of propping her up, as she wondered how she got to have such great friends, when she still did such awful things sometimes.

While this had been going on, the Boys had been setting the stage, and now it was their turn to play for the night. Lando again had a half-cape, but in a different color tonight. Threepio seemed to be slightly less anxious than the week before, but only slightly. Chewie, as usual, looked at home behind his drum set. Han leaned into a microphone, and said gruffly and without preamble, “We love you, Maz.” More than anything else that night, that set the bar to its highest decibels. While the cheering still reverberated through the bar, the band began playing “Bad Company.” 

Rey had always thought it was funny that there was a band who had a hit song whose title was also their band name. She started to giggle, and wound up hiccuping at the thought. Finn patted her on the back, but she held up her hand, “I’m ok. But thank you.” They both turned their attention back to Han’s guitar playing and Lando’s singing:

> _Rebel souls_  
>  _Deserters we are called_  
>  _Chose a gun and threw away the sword_  
>  _Now these towns_  
>  _They all know our name six gun sound is our claim to fame_  
>  _I can hear them say_  
>  _Bad company_  
>  _And I won't deny_  
>  _Bad, bad company_  
>  _Till the day I die_

The guys were clearly having fun jamming out, dragging out the end of the song past where it traditionally ended. It didn’t seem like anyone at the bar cared though, except for Rey, who was ready to disappear. She could see Kylo moving through the crowd towards her as the song was finally ending, and she didn’t want to talk to him anymore tonight. Especially not while she was currently drunk. Thankfully, Rose made it back to her before Kylo did, and Rey did a thing she greatly disliked doing. She begged Rose to take her home, right then. Rose looked up at Finn, who chucked his chin in Kylo’s direction, and Rose’s line of sight found Kylo. Rey was already out of her barstool and halfway to the door, mumbling apologies. Behind her she could hear Finn apologizing to Kylo, “I’m sorry man, she’s drunk, and really not great right now.” 

_That’s an understatement,_ she thought as she collapsed into the passenger side of her car. Rose started up the Chevelle, and Rey turned the volume back down on her radio. “Thank you for breaking my rule and driving my car, Rose,” she told her friend quietly. “Thank you for taking care of me. Especially when I don’t feel like I deserve it.” 

Rey could feel the beginning of tears leaking out of her eyes, and Rose reached a hand over to hold her own, and squeeze it gently. “Aw, hun, this is what friends are for.” She paused for a moment, “And from here on out, I can brag that I got to drive the Chevelle,” she said with a wide toothed grin. Rey surprised herself by laughing through her tears, and was once again beyond thankful for her friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know. Some poor decisions were made in this chapter. But I promise they'll actually talk (like adults!) in the next one!


	4. Week 3: Halfway There

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Kylo finally have an adult conversation.

[ ](https://imgur.com/8PzN2Sf)

For the entirety of the week leading up to the third night of competition, Rey was slowly dreading the repercussions of her actions the Saturday before. When she had woken up on Sunday with a pounding head and a ton of regret, she knew she had behaved poorly. She wasn’t sure how to fix any of it though, so instead she threw herself into her work week, fixing the cars around her at the shop. As Saturday kept drawing ever closer, her dread kept creeping in more and more. By Saturday morning, she felt like a stress bomb, and even tried meditating before getting ready for the evening. 

Thankfully, Kaydel had suggested going early and being helpful again, so as they drove to Maz’s, Rey filled her in on what had happened the week before. “Maybe it’s for the best that it’s been a few days,” Kay suggested. “There’s been like a cool-down period almost, and you can talk like adults tonight.” Rey just nodded her head as she drove to the venue, trying to convince herself of ways to apologize to Kylo. Yet at the same time that she knew he deserved an apology, she still wasn’t sure that he was entirely innocent. What if he still was working for Snoke? Would she just look like an idiot apologizing to him then?

Maz set both Kaydel and Rey to task with the same variety of odd jobs as the week prior. Rey was set to wiping down the bar and the tables, which she found to be almost as relaxing as waxing a car. Once Kylo and Hux arrived, they too were set to a variety of tasks that Maz needed completing. Whenever new ones were shouted out by Maz, Rey would take the one that kept her furthest away from Kylo. She told herself she wasn’t purposefully avoiding him, but she also knew she was perhaps not being entirely truthful with herself. 

When Finn arrived, he came up and gave her a huge bear hug, asking, “How are you doing, kid?”

Not for the first time, she was so very happy to have her friends in her life. “I’m doing better. It was a bit of rough week.” She took a slightly shaky breath. “Even if it was basically all my fault.”

He smiled at her, and put his arm around her shoulder, as they headed backstage to make sure everything was good to go. “Hey, we all make mistakes.” 

Rey punched him very gently in the bicep, and replied, “Thanks, Finn.”

The Tico sisters were already backstage, and Rose was helping her sister to assemble the gear for her sister’s band, since they were first that night. The Resistance was up against Kylo’s band, and Paige was a little nervous about it. Poe’s bluster was of no help, but Rose always had a calming effect on her sister when she was nervous or stressed out. 

“What are you guys playing tonight?” Rey asked, while Paige connected and coiled microphone cords.

“We’re going with ‘I Will Wait’ by Mumford & Sons,” Paige answered.

Rey clutched her hand to her heart and threw her head back. “Ugh! I genuinely love that song!” She brought her gaze back to the other woman. “You guys are going to do great. The Resistance is going to crush the Knights of Ren.”

Paige grinned at her, “Thanks for the positivity. Now quit crowding my stage!” With a smile of her own, Rey left the stage, and headed to the bar to grab a beer. She promised herself that she was going to nurse this one. As such, it had to last from now through at least the Knights of Ren’s performance, if not all the way until her band’s after Los Cantina Boys that night. 

As she crossed the bar towards the booth where Gwen and Kaydel were already waiting for her, she said hi to Sunshine first, and then Han and Chewie. Han patted her on the back, and said, “You’re doing good so far, kiddo. I like the music you gals play.” From anyone else, it would have sounded condescending, but she knew he meant it genuinely. 

She slid into the booth right as Poe began to introduce the band. “If you’ve been here the last few weeks, you already know us. And if you’ve been coming here for the last few months, years, decades, you already know and love Maz Kanata. I know I speak for The Resistance, and I’m pretty sure I speak for the rest of the bands - they’ll let me know later if I don’t - when I say that we’re here basically only because of her. This place and this woman are havens for us musicians here in the city, and we couldn’t do what we love without them both. So, please, can we all raise a glass to Maz,” and here, he lifted his own glass from the stage. The bar patrons all around were raising their glasses and bottles to Maz and shouting. Poe took a sip of his drink, and the rest of the bar followed suit. He set his drink back down from where he’d grabbed it on a little stand, and returned to the mic. “Let’s get this party started!” Poe declared, and the band leapt into their song:

> _Well I came home_  
>  _Like a stone_  
>  _And I fell heavy into your arms_  
>  _These days of dust_  
>  _Which we've known_  
>  _Will blow away with this new sun_  
>  _But I'll kneel down_  
>  _Wait for now_  
>  _And I'll kneel down_  
>  _Know my ground_  
>  _And I will wait, I will wait for you_  
>  _And I will wait, I will wait for you_

Rey did genuinely love the song, and so she sang along with gusto from the booth, causing both of her band mates to laugh and sing along with her. Music had a way helping her let go of whatever was bothering her, and just give in to the melody and harmonies. Rey was beginning to feel truly happy after the song, but something was bothering the back of her mind. “Hey Kay,” she asked, “since when does Poe play the banjo?”

Kaydel grinned wolfishly. “He’s a man of many talents,” she replied with a wink.

“Oh dear lord,” Gwen rolled her eyes, and took a gulp of her gin and tonic. 

Rey started to snort with laughter, and had to ask for a water from one of Maz’s waitstaff, a woman named Bazine. She always seemed standoffish, but Bazine was actually fairly nice. 

Leia came back with her water. “You doing better this week?” she asked kindly, as she handed Rey her water. 

“Yeah, I am. Thank you.” 

Her slight surprise at Leia’s genuine concern must have been evident on her face, since Leia gave a small shrug. “Maz likes you. Han likes you. I wanted to make sure,” she finished with a small upturn of her lips.

“I really appreciate that,” Rey responded. “May I hug you? Is that too forward?”

Leia chuckled, “Not at all,” and held her arms out. Rey slipped out of the booth, and hugged the older woman. She also happened to notice as she did that Kylo was setting up on stage and watching them. 

“Thank you again,” Rey said, taking a step back. Leia squeezed her forearm, and headed back towards where her husband was now sitting and chatting with Lando and Threepio.

Rey sat back down next to her friends, and Gwen leaned in. “I don’t mean to alarm you, but you are aware that Kylo is following your every movement, yes?”

“Yes, I may have noticed that,” she exhaled. Rey started picking at the label on her beer bottle, and took a sip from it. She was still doing well at keeping it lasting the evening so far, and set it back next to her new water. Kaydel gave her a sideways hug, as all three of them turned their attention towards the stage where Kylo & the Knights of Ren were set up and ready to go. 

Kylo stepped up to the microphone. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this,” and he ran his hand through his hair. “But, I couldn’t say it any better than Dameron did. We’re here to compete, but we’re really all here for Maz. Hope you enjoy the music.” He took a half step back from the mic as the stage lights shifted. The band began to play “All This Could Be Yours” by Cold War Kids, and like clockwork, Kylo’s eyes found Rey’s once again. Kylo had dropped the melody of the singing a full octave to fit his voice better. As a result, the tone of the song had also turned an edge deeper. As she listened to the lyrics, Rey tried to convince herself that he wasn’t in fact singing just to her:

> _But I've been wondering, why can't you see?_  
>  _If the door opens up we go where it leads_  
>  _I have been waiting_  
>  _For you to find_  
>  _That all of this could be yours_  
>  _Be yours tonight_  
>  _Could be yours!_  
>  _Could be yours!_  
>  _Could be yours!_

Halfway through the song, before the second chorus, she gave up trying to convince herself of that. Kylo’s gaze still hadn’t left hers, and she knew hers hadn’t left his either. He kept singing to Rey:

> _And I have been waiting_  
>  _But you need a sign_  
>  _That all of this could be yours_  
>  _Be yours tonight_  
>  _I have been patient_  
>  _But you've got to try_  
>  _Then all of this could be yours_  
>  _Be yours tonight_

Rey’s reverie was broken when Kylo stopped singing, and the band stopped playing. The bar was cheering loudly, and Rey needed to stand up. She stretched her arms above her head, and turned her back to the stage. She feared if she stayed facing it, she’d simply spend the entire time watching Kylo break down his gear. Gwen left the table, and Rose and Paige came and took her place. Rey was nodding along to the conversation, but was only partially paying attention. She felt as though something had shifted between her and Kylo, and it scared her a little. Since she was splitting her attention between the ladies’ chatter and her worries, she didn’t notice the presence behind her.

“We need to talk,” Kylo said quietly. 

Rey set her beer down on the table, and turned around. She took a deep breath, and looked up into his deep brown eyes. “Ok. Let’s talk.”

“Not. Here,” he gritted out, boring his eyes into hers, willing her to understand.

“Well, what if I’d rather not leave this spot?” she asked, the edge of a tease snaking its way out into her voice.

He looked at her for a moment, then the side of his mouth quirked up. Rey realized too late that she had made a mistake. Kylo bent down, grabbed her right underneath her rear, and hoisted her over his shoulder. As Rey tried to adjust to her new upside down viewpoint, she realized that he was walking her out the stage door, and towards the band loading area. She huffed, but didn’t protest. She hated that this was a surprisingly comfortable way to be carried, and that his body was warm, but not too hot. She hated even more that she wasn’t protesting being carried out of the room in front of everyone. By Kylo Ren, no less.

He set her down, gently, next to the trunk of his car, a black Challenger. Rey leaned back against the vehicle, and crossed her arms across her chest without realizing she had done so. Once she did, she sighed at herself, and pulled her arms apart, putting her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket instead. Kylo was standing there watching her, and he kept opening his mouth like he was about to start speaking, only to close it again swiftly.

“What do you want to talk about Kylo?” she asked him softly.

He chuffed, looked at the sky, and put his hands in his back pockets before looking back at her. “Let’s start there, I guess. I’m Ben.”

“Ben,” she repeated.

“Yeah. Ben. Ben Solo. But you could have guessed that last part. Kylo’s just a stage name. I’m tired of people calling me that though. Snoke thought it would be smart for the band, and it made sense at the time, but…I’m not that person anymore. I don’t want to be that person anymore. I don’t work for Snoke anymore. The guys and I, we haven’t worked for him for almost two years now. It’s why we don’t play basically anywhere else. He’s holding our contract, but, well, I don’t give a shit. Hux doesn’t need the music money. And Arthur doesn’t care about contracts. I’m just so sick of Snoke, and everything he does. I don’t want to be that person anymore,” he repeated.

Rey was trying to process everything he had just told her. “Okay. So. Ben.” She looked down at her boots and scuffed at the gravel. “I should apologize. For last week. I was pretty awful to you, and not for any good reason.” She could feel Kylo, _Ben,_ she reminded herself, take a step closer to her. “I was worried you were still working for Snoke. And I was so angry at what he’s doing to Maz, that I just short circuited. I didn’t think straight. I didn’t consider that of course if we talked to Sunshine and Hux, that -”

Ben cut her off with his laughter. “Wait. Wait. You call Arthur ‘Sunshine?’ How long has this been going on for? How have I not known about this? I’m only calling him that from now on. I love it.” He was grinning broadly, but pulled it back. “I’m sorry. I interrupted you. Please continue.”

Rey was stunned for a second that even though he had interrupted her, he was returning the focus back to her. “Thank you. Uh, I, so, I didn’t think about how telling them of course meant that you would find out, and your folks know, and I don’t know how much you guys actually talk or not, but I should have known you would find out. There was no reason for me to lie to you, and treat you like you’re nothing. You’re not nothing.”

Ben closed the remaining distance between them, and placed his hands on his car on either side of her. “You’re not nothing either. Not to me.” Rey was watching his lips as he spoke, and she watched him take in a shuddering breath. She could finally hear the sound of the band drifting out from the bar, and simply stood there watching Ben’s face as she listened to the music. She could just make out Lando singing “Wanted Dead or Alive” by Bon Jovi:

> _Oh, and I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride_  
>  _I'm wanted dead or alive_  
>  _I walk these streets_  
>  _A loaded six-string on my back_  
>  _I play for keeps 'cause I might not make it back_

In that moment, Rey made her decision, and raised up onto her tiptoes. She reached her arms under Ben’s and around his back, clasping her hands onto the tops of his shoulders. At the last second, she asked, “Is this ok?”

She felt his “Yes” ghost over her lips more than she heard it, and she pressed her lips to his, tentatively at first. Soon, he was crushing his lips to hers, and she could feel her head swimming. Ben reached under her, lifting her up onto the trunk of the car, and stepped in between her legs. Rey could feel the press of his muscles in the gap between their jackets. His tongue swept across her bottom lip, and she responded by opening her mouth to him. She began to feel lost in the kiss, in the interplay of their lips and tongues, of his hands on her body. Dimly, she remembered she was supposed to play with her band still. Ben began to pull away, and he brought his hand up to her cheek, grazing his thumb lightly back and forth. Rey was still in a bit of a daze, but she couldn’t hear music any more. 

She lurched up suddenly, “I can’t hear music anymore. Do you hear music anymore?!” She jumped off of Ben’s car, and started to run towards the door, but he had her hand in his. Her momentum stopped, and he pulled her back to him, her other palm landing on his chest. 

“It’s going to be okay, sweetheart. Just breathe and relax.” He kissed the top of her head. “Now, go knock ‘em dead,” he encouraged her, and pushed her back towards the door, right as Rose burst out of it, shouting her name.

The Rebelles did manage to get set up in time, and if any of the girls wondered about Rey’s flushed face, they had the foresight not to say anything until after the set. Rey looked out into the audience, and saw Ben sit down on a barstool next to Hux and Sunshine. He was smiling up at her. Not just smiling. Beaming. She took a deep breath, and spoke into the microphone. “Hey all, we’re The Rebelles, and we just want to add our love and support to Maz. Don’t let the bastards get you down.” Kaydel let out a whoop, while Leia whistled from her seat with Los Cantina Boys.

As they began to play, Rey tried to take in what all had happened in the past half hour. Once she started to sing Ember Island’s “Stay,” it hit her just how close to home this song choice was turning out to be. She hoped that Ben realized it too as she sang:

> _We are lost but we will find home_  
>  _When we're ready to forgive_  
>  _Just let me stay_  
>  _Stay in your arms_  
>  _I'm ready to give_  
>  _Give up this fight_  
>  _Into your arms_  
>  _Into your soul_  
>  _Maybe I'm losing_  
>  _I'm losing control_

After the applause, as The Rebelles were breaking down the stage, Rose and Kaydel pounced. Kaydel pounced literally, almost tackling Rey into the ground with her hug, while Rose pounced verbally. “Where did he take you? What is going on? Did you apologize? Are we happy? Are we angry? Should we be on speaking terms with him, or do I need to punch him?”

Rey was still trying to catch her breath from laughter at both Kaydel’s tackle and Rose’s pelting of questions, so Gwen took advantage to ask, “And how is the ‘supreme leader’ tonight?” with considerably less venom than the last time she had asked the question. Rey’s first answer was just to blush and smile, and attempt to hide her face with her hands as best she could, while Kay still had a hold of her. Rose squealed, and jumped up and down. 

Kay eventually let go of Rey to take her own guitar outside, and Rey began to answer Rose’s questions, “We went outside to talk, and I’m not entirely sure what’s going on. But I think it’s all positive. I’m not angry, and you do not need to punch him.” 

Rose grinned from ear to ear. “Good,” and she leaned around to look at where he sat. “I wouldn’t want to mess up that pretty mug of his anyways. But you let me know if he ever does need a punching.”

“You’ll be the first to know,” Rey assured her friend, and hugged the petite woman around her shoulders. She took her own guitar and mic equipment out to her car, and headed back into the bar. She walked to where Ben still was, and asked, “Do you work on Sundays? Because I know it’s late, but I could go for some diner food. And I think we should talk some more.” Sunshine looked like he was going to combust with happiness, as he pulled Hux away from the two of them.

“As a matter of fact, I do not work on Sundays, and I love diner food. Meet you at Kenobi’s in fifteen?” he asked.

“I’ll see you there in fifteen,” she agreed. 

Rey had sat down in one of Kenobi’s vinyl booths just ahead of Ben. Without preamble, he jumped in, “Please tell me the Chevelle out there isn’t yours.”

She could only laugh as he situated himself into the booth and pulled one of her legs up into his lap, his large hands rubbing warmly and aimlessly up and down her calf. “The Chevelle is mine,” she nodded, as she picked up a menu, even though she knew what she wanted. “Why?”

Ben shook his head, and started to look over his own menu one-handed, his other still occupied on her leg. “I haven’t seen that car since I was a kid. My dad lost it somehow.”

“I found it in Plutt’s junkyard!”

“No shit. I’m surprised he hasn’t asked you about it yet.”

Their waiter arrived at that moment, and Rey sat up, suddenly self-conscious about her leg in Ben’s lap. She went ahead and ordered a bacon cheeseburger, a basket split 50/50 of onion rings and tater tots, and a cherry coke. Ben ordered a pastrami on rye, with sauerkraut - hold the mustard - an order of potato latkes, and a vanilla egg cream. They made small talk about the kitschy decorations inside the diner until the food arrived. Like all good diners, it was more food than they should probably eat in one sitting, and they would likely need boxes to take the rest home.

Rey asked for a side of mayo, and started to mix her ketchup and mayo together to dip her tots into, while Ben started to slice his latkes, and layer apple sauce onto them. “So, Snoke,” she asked. “He still has your contract, you said? Does he know you’re doing this whole battle thing?”

Ben took a big bite of his sandwich, and chewed and swallowed, before answering. “Yeah. We signed back when I was young and angry. I’d gotten in a huge fight with my dad - I don’t think either of us even remember what the fuck it was about anymore - and Snoke sorta swooped in. At first, Hux and I were thrilled with it. Gwen too. We always played the best times. But then, he kept demanding more and more, and he took more and more of our cuts, and controlling more and more. That’s when you gals advertised for a bassist, and Phas quit. I don’t blame her for it. Arthur joined, and really, he’s helped more than I ever thought he would. He always seems so chill, but dude has an MBA, and is actually an accountant.” Rey started to chuckle at the incongruity of Sunshine in a suit in her mind. “He took our contract around to his office, and made Hux finally take it to his family lawyer. Hell, I finally read it. It’s fucking awful. We can’t buy ourselves out of it, so we just skipped out. I’ve blocked Snoke from every form of contact, changed jobs, and just, well, tried to pick up the pieces.”

Rey reached across the table, and put her hand on his forearm. “Thank you so much for telling me Ben. I’m so sorry I was so shitty to you.”

He laid his (much) larger hand over hers and grinned, “It’s all good. You kissed me. I think we’re even for now.”

“For now?” she asked, her eyebrow raising. 

“Who knows where this is going to go?” he asked kindly. They settled into companionable quiet, eating their food, enjoying the late night, and sharing stories about their friends and their lives. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you all also have the same reaction I do when you write food into a scene that you then want to have some? I, for example, have been craving latkes with applesauce since the day I wrote the diner scene. It's a problem.


	5. Week 4: For I Can't Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the last week of general competition during Maz's Battle of the Bands, and Rey and Ben are getting veryclose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've reached the chapter where the fic gets its name from!
> 
> As well, I know it's not everyone's jam, so here it is upfront, the sexy fun times are in this chapter at the end. Things start up after they leave the bar. Also, we're in the modern world, and these kids are finally acting like the grown-ass adults they are, so it's enthusiastic consent and safe sexual practices all around. Please consider this your forewarning.

[ ](https://imgur.com/8PzN2Sf)

When Rey arrived at Maz’s the next week, she was swept aside and into Ben’s arms before she could do anything else. He drew her in for a kiss, long and lingering, setting her down right before she was fully out of breath. “I forgot to say last week at Kenobi’s. We’re in. If we get first or second, the fishbowl is all going to Maz,” he told her.

“If? Not when?” she teased.

“I don’t know. There’s this brunette lead singer who’s giving me a run for my money. I’m becoming rather fond of her,” he teased back. 

Ben was twining his fingers through a piece of her hair behind her ear, and Rey wanted to lean her cheek into his palm. Right as she was about to, Maz interrupted them, “Alright my lovebirds, adorable you may be, but the bar still needs to be set up. If you would be so kind as to still please help?” While it was phrased as a question, they both knew it was anything but. The tips of Ben’s ears began to blush where they peeked out from his hair - a detail Rey had never noticed before - and she filed it away for later. Their instruments and gear set aside, they went to start on the tasks Maz needed them to work on. 

As Rey cleaned and stocked the bar, she kept catching Ben sneaking glances of her from first the sound booth, then the stage. She had to stifle a laugh when Ben almost tripped over an extension cord in the booth. Thankfully, Hux caught him by the elbow before he could go ass over teakettle inside the small booth area. Later, she saw Ben hiding his own smile behind his hand when she had miscalculated where the end of the bar was, and found it with her midsection, much to Kaydel’s schadenfreude-tinged delight. 

When Leia arrived at Maz’s Place, she started setting up the fishbowls and the registers. Kaydel sidled up to her and asked, “How far behind is Maz still?”

Leia and Rey both knew that Kay meant how far off were they from repaying the loan, between the fishbowls and the extra drink money in the registers. Leia pulled out the pocket notebook that she’d been keeping careful record in, as well as her cell phone, where she’d been keeping a backup record. The three women huddled around to see where the stakes were. “Okay, Maz owes $17,500. It was $15,000, but Snoke tacked on an extra $2,500 in interest last year,” Leia outlined.

“Shit,” Rey exhaled.

“Shit indeed,” Leia continued. “So, far in standard cover and drink purchases, Maz has made $5,000 above operating costs. That’s in three nights, so we can figure we’ll have another $3,000 or so added tonight and next week. Add in the extra drink money, which was $3,000 over two nights -”

Kaydel cut her off, “ Wait, Leia, holy fuck, you put in $1,500 each night for us!”

Leia laughed, “No, no no no no. You guys contributed plenty. I promised Han I would only put in a dollar per drink. There’s fifteen of you in all four of the bands, that money adds up. Plus, you have Hux and Phasma who slip twenties inside of their extra singles. And most of you guys all add ones and fives in with your drinks. It all adds up.”

Rey had been counting while Leia explained. “Okay, so we’re at $8,000, and we can expect $14,000 by the end of next Saturday’s close.” She looked at the four fishbowls. “Is there any chance that we can magically expect $3,500 to appear in these guys by then too?”

“It’s going to be close. The fishbowls are averaging about $150 per night per bowl. So $600 total each week. If it stays that way tonight, we’ll only be at $2,400,” she paused, and saw the hungry looks on the girls’ faces. “And no, I’m not telling you whose fishbowl is actually in first.”

“Aww, c’mon, you’re killing me!” Kaydel joke-complained. She took a beat. “But we need to talk up the fishbowls. It’s the last night of competition, and we need that money to go to Maz.”

Leia looked pointedly at Rey, “Did _everyone_ agree to give up their winnings?”

Rey set her hand on the other woman’s forearm, and looked into her kind brown eyes, so like her son’s. “Yes, everyone agreed,” she answered with a smile. Leia responded with a smile of her own, setting her own hand over Rey’s, before beginning to clear up her notebook, and busy herself with the tasks of the bar. 

The Rebelles were opening the competition that night, and they were up against The Resistance. Rey wanted to make sure that everything of theirs was set to go. She was beginning to veer into that pre-performance overly-nervous territory, and she had started needlessly fussing with her gear. Rose finally came and rescued her from it, pointing out that double- and triple-checking her guitar strap wasn’t going to change any part of the performance. Instead, Rose bought her a beer from the bar, and made her sit down for a minute. Ben came by to check on her too, giving her a quick hug and a kiss, and heading to make sure his band was all set up too, even though they were last for the night. 

“That’s sweet of him,” Rose mused. “He seems calmer - and nicer! - than he used to be.” Rey had to agree with her. She and Ben hadn’t been able to see each other during the week, but they had texted back and forth around their schedules. One of the cutest moments of the week came when he suggested that they watch an episode of tv “together,” after he had found out they both liked _Stumptown_. So while they were at their separate apartments, they watched the same show, at the same time, while texting back and forth about it. They even had both made popcorn to eat while watching it. Rey was looking forward to hopefully having him over to her apartment to share some popcorn and _Stumptown_ in person this week. 

Rose continued, pulling Rey back to the present, “What do you think of Hux? Do you think he would be nicer once you got to know him?”

Rey looked at her friend’s thoughtful face, and looked across the bar to where Hux seemed almost relaxed, chatting with Gwen. “Y’know, it’s possible. I’d maybe ask Gwen those questions.”

Rose smiled a little. “I think I just might.” Rey thought that that made for a very interesting development. 

Before the friends moved from their spots though, Maz had hopped up onto her perch behind the bar, and was bellowing into the crowd, “What have we here? It seems our array of presidents and treasury secretaries has been joined by not one, but two Mister Benjamin Franklins! Please don’t let them get lonely!” Gwen and Hux not-so-subtly high fived behind everyone’s view on the far side of the bar. Rey took a big sip of her beer to hide her smile, and try to keep their “secret” for them. The likelihood of anyone else at the bar having hundred dollar bills in their possession was exceedingly slim. Well, maybe Lando. Rey wasn’t quite sure how he kept himself occupied when he wasn’t playing music, but he never seemed to be hurting financially. She also still had no idea what Threepio did. And there was still the disconcerting image of Sunshine in a suit… Rey shook her head a little to clear it, and chuckled at herself.

It was time for The Rebelles to begin the evening. As the girls were setting up, Rey could hear Rose asking Gwen about Hux and the hundreds in the fishbowls. Gwen chuckled, “It was his idea actually. We each put one in each other’s bowl, so that hopefully we can play next week still. He’s a good guy, he’s just been shoved into fitting a mold for such a long time that it’s taken him such a long time to start to break out of it. Do you want me to introduce you?”

Rose blushed a deep color that could only be called the same as her name. “Maaaybe,” she replied, twirling a drumstick. 

Gwen and Kay both laughed this time, but only Gwen spoke, and genuinely, “This is going to be fun.”

Rey addressed the bar, “Hey all, we’re The Rebelles! Thank you all for coming out these last few weeks, but we’re not done yet! This week is the last week of general competition before the last head to head. So please! We would love to divest you of your hard-earned cash. You can do so at the bar over there, by visiting our lovely fishbowl, and depositing your money inside of it. And while you’re at it, grab a drink!” She looked back at the rest of her band. “That was sales-pitchy enough, yeah?” Rose just started laughing, while Kaydel gave her an obnoxious thumbs up. “Alright, we’re doing a Kacey Musgraves song tonight, so please bear with us,” she self-deprecated. They had decided to play “Oh, What a World” the last week, simply because all four of them had fallen in love with the album and loved playing the song. Rey let herself get lost in the song, enjoying the feel of playing music she loved, with friends she loved, in a place she loved. Despite the worries of making enough money for Maz to keep her bar, Rey was happy by the middle of the song:

> _Oh, what a world, don't wanna leave_  
>  _All kinds of magic all around us, it's hard to believe_  
>  _Thank God it's not too good to be true_  
>  _Oh, what a world, and then there is you_  
>  _Did I know you once in another life?_  
>  _Are we here just once or a billion times?_  
>  _Well, I wish I knew, but it doesn't matter_  
>  _'Cause you're here right now, and I know what I feel_  
>  _And these are real things_  
>  _Yeah, these are real things_

When the song ended, Rey could hear Leia whistling for them, and Ben cheering loudly from the back. She grinned widely, and the girls broke down the stage quickly. Once everything was offstage and secure, they piled into a group hug, even Gwen, and were all laughing happily. “No matter what happens ladies, I had a blast,” Rey declared.

“Oh no, none of that now,” Gwen declared. “You bitches are stuck with me.”

Kay roared with laughter, “I couldn’t have said it better.”

Rose was beaming with happiness. “Let’s go cheer on our competition!”

“To the bar?” Rey asked, as they all nodded, and lined up awkwardly arms thrown around shoulders and middles as heights allowed, “To the bar!”

They got waylaid en route by The Resistance, who insisted on group hugs all around. No one minded though. Paige and Rose were jumping up and down in a hug, while the other four were talking animatedly. Finn picked Rey up and swung her around, “You did so great, kid!”

“Thanks! I’m looking forward to your guys’ set too!” Poe came over and slipped his arm around Finn’s midsection, while Finn draped his across the other man’s shoulder’s. Rey looked at her friends with a dawning realization, and an excited squeal. “How long has this been going on for?” 

Finn kissed Poe’s temple, while he replied, “Since about the second week of this competition. We started off with me joking about it, but when we got to talking…”

“Well, there was a lot of honest feeling under the humor,” Finn supplied. 

Rey held her arms out to the both of them, “Can I?” and when they both nodded, they shared a group hug. “I’m so happy for you both,” she said to them. “Now go break a leg!” The guys both laughed good naturedly at her, and headed to set up for their set. 

She picked up a water from the bar, and headed back to where Ben was ensconced up against the wall. He pulled her into the space in front of himself, turning her, so they could both see the stage. She could feel him humming, and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. He kissed the top of her head and let out a small laugh. “I was going to ask about you and Finn, what with the spinning and all, but then I saw him and Dameron, so I think I actually have less questions now.” His intonation flicked upwards at the end, causing Rey to chuckle. Despite his words, she knew he had more questions; he just didn’t want to ask them.

“Finn and I met in high school, as you know. He had a rough childhood in the system, much like mine. We’ve never been a thing, just really close friends. He and Poe are together now. Poe and I have _never_ been a thing. He’s fun to dance and party with. Nothing more.”

She felt Ben exhale. “Oh. Cool.” He paused before continuing, “And thank you for telling me anyways. I don’t want to be the prying jealous type, but I also have this morbid curiosity to know. It gets bad sometimes.”

Rey leaned back into him, and looked up into Ben’s face. “Communication. Isn’t it a novel idea?” She surprised a laugh out of him. Once he was done laughing, he bent his head down to kiss her. She could really get used to kissing Ben Solo regularly. 

They settled in to one another as The Resistance finished setting up for their set. Once they were ready, Poe held his hands up to the audience, “Friends! Romans! Countrymen! Please, permanently lend me your spare dollars!” The bar laughed along with Poe’s antics, and Rey could even feel Ben’s chest rise and fall with a chuckle. Poe continued, “We’re The Resistance! Hope you like us!” For the last general night, they had chosen to play Avicii’s “Wake Me Up.” They didn’t have the ability to exactly replicate some of the sounds from the original, but they did what they could with their instruments. More importantly, they were clearly having a blast. If nothing else, watching their band the past few weeks had been a study in watching pure musical joy. 

Rey sang along with her friends, and began to dance along to the music. Dancing in such close quarters to Ben, within the confines of his arms, she could feel his appreciation of her movements stirring. And while part of her mind had known that he was a big man, and likely proportional, her mind was just starting to actually put two and two together. Rey started to slow her movements, and was about to stop entirely, when Ben leaned down and whispered huskily into her ear, “You really don’t have to stop on my account.” So, as the song continued, Rey kept dancing close to Ben:

> _I tried carrying the weight of the world_  
>  _But I only have two hands_  
>  _I hope I get the chance to travel the world_  
>  _And I don't have any plans_  
>  _I wish that I could stay forever this young_  
>  _Not afraid to close my eyes_  
>  _Life's a game made for everyone_  
>  _And love is a prize_  
>  _So wake me up when it's all over_  
>  _When I'm wiser and I'm older_  
>  _All this time I was finding myself_  
>  _And I didn't know I was lost_

As the song ended, Rey was cheering for her friends, while Ben was holding her close and whispering, “You really have no idea how sexy you are, do you?”

She turned and smirked up at him, “I might be starting to get an idea.”

Ben smiled down at her. “I’m going to grab another drink. Would you like another beer? Another water?”

“Another water would be great, thank you,” she responded, and sent him with an extra two dollars for the drink fund. 

While he was getting drinks, Hux and Sunshine came to arrange themselves near them. “Don’t worry,” Sunshine explained, “We’re not here to grill you. We always make sure to sit near Ben when his dad’s band is up. We don’t want him to be alone ever.”

Rey looked from Sunshine to Hux, who wasn’t looking nearly as pinched as usual. “That’s really nice of you guys,” she said, meaning it. “Wait, how did you know I knew he was Ben and not Kylo?”

Hux let out a snort of a laugh incongruous with his manicured appearance. “I mean, he told us. But I would have hoped that from the pda he would have told you.”

Rey could feel herself blushing, and Sunshine came to her rescue, “Ben seems happy. That’s all that really matters. And speak of the devil…” he trailed off as Ben walked up with his own beer and Rey’s water. He reclaimed his spot behind her, pulling her in close again, while the other guys watched Los Cantina Boys set up the stage. The guys were talking about some of the vintage gear the Boys still used. Which while vintage gear was usually an interesting topic to Rey, Ben was distracting her by drawing lazy circles across her hipbone with his fingers. 

Soon, Los Cantina Boys were ready for their performance. Lando stepped up to his microphone. “It pains me to have to grovel for money, as I would much rather grovel for your love and affection.” A number of audience members groaned at this, Leia included. Chewie was rolling his eyes from his drum kit. Threepio suddenly looked more nervous than normal. Han just sighed, but then motioned with his hand for Lando to keep talking. “But, the powers that be, the beautiful, wondrous powers that be,” and here, he dropped his voice, “Maz,” then resumed his normal speech, “have decreed that we perform for money. So, if you like us, please shower us in your monetary affection. And if you hate us, well, please shower the other bands in your monetary affection.” 

As the bar cheered and clapped, Ben leaned in conspiratorially, “Can I tell you a secret, but you cannot tell anyone else ever?”

“I promise,” Rey whispered back, suddenly very curious.

“When I was very young, I could not pronounce my Ls or my Ds, so for a few years, I called that man Unca Wanwo.” Rey had to clap a hand over her mouth, so that she wouldn’t laugh too loudly. Tears started to collect in the corners of her eyes as her body shook from laughter. She turned to look up at Ben, who was smiling and laughing too. 

“I can’t even tell Rose?” she asked when she regained her breath.

“Especially not Rose,” he answered. “But I am glad you’re amused.”

“Oh, so very amused.”

Los Cantina Boys had made the exceedingly brave decision to cover “Ramble On.” Any band who had the balls to take on Led Zeppelin deserved some sort of medal for bravery in Rey’s mind. No average human sounded like Robert Plant. Except for maybe the lead singer of Greta Van Fleet. And he probably didn’t count as “average” either. The brilliance of the Boys version of “Ramble On” of course was that they knew they weren’t Zeppelin, and they weren’t trying to be Zeppelin. They just wanted everyone to have a good time, and Lando had his fun, strutting across the stage in yet another half-cape, belting out the lyrics:

> _But I know I've got one thing I got to do_  
>  _Ramble on_  
>  _And now's the time, the time is now_  
>  _To sing my song_  
>  _I'm goin' 'round the world, I got to find my girl_  
>  _On my way_  
>  _I've been this way ten years to the day_  
>  _Ramble on_  
>  _Gotta find the queen of all my dreams_  
>  _Got no time for spreadin' roots_  
>  _The time has come to be gone_  
>  _And though our health we drank a thousand times_  
>  _It's time to ramble on_

They all clapped for the band when they were done, but Rey could tell that Ben had been tense throughout the song and was relieved when it was over. Hux and Sunshine collected their drinks and started to head backstage to get ready for their performance. Rey pulled Ben’s face to hers, and surprised him by kissing him first on the nose, then full on the lips. “Now go knock ‘em dead,” she told him, echoing his statement from the week prior. He grinned at her, and swatted at her rear end. 

Rey settled onto the stool that Ben had vacated and watched the two bands work around each other as they tore down and set up. As she watched the rest of the patrons at the bar and her friends scattered throughout the bar, she thought about just what the city would lose if Maz’s Place really was taken over by Snoke Enterprises. It was one of the last bars that allowed non-contracted bands to play. You didn’t have to have a label, just your own instruments. There was no dress code, no changes to cover charge depending on the night or your gender or if you were single. Everything was straightforward. Everything was simple. The bathrooms were always taken care of. The wiring wasn’t faulty. The alcohol was inexpensive. It was a dive, but every city needed a good, welcoming dive that took in everyone from the college kids to the oldest professionals. And Maz’s Place was home to all of them. 

Soon, Kylo & the Knights of Ren were set up and ready to go. Ben approached the mic, and Rey saw his hand shake just a hair as he reached for it. “Okay, so, hi. We’re Kylo & the Knights of Ren, and we’re the last band of the night tonight. And, we want to address something that we the bands all know, but that you guys the audience might not. So, addressing the evil elephant in the room. Snoke Enterprises is trying to force Maz out of business, and repossess the bar from her. And this whole battle of the bands, is part of how we’re trying to help her keep the bar. Thus, the more you drink, the more money she has to keep her bar. The more money that goes in those silly little fishbowls, the more money she has to keep her bar. Sorry Maz, we hadn’t told you that part yet. We all agreed you get the fishbowl money, no matter who of us wins. I mean, we still want to know who wins, and still do the competition next week. But we don’t want the money. Right guys?” Here, he paused, and looked out into the crowd. “So, yeah, please, let’s keep Maz’s Place in good hands. And also, we thought in the spirit of sticking it to the proverbial man, we’d play ‘Sugar High’ from _Empire Records_.”

The audience in the bar was a little bit gobsmacked by Ben’s speech, but as soon as he stopped talking and hit the first chords of the Coyote Shivers’ song, they were roaring with cheers. Rey was screaming her support from the back, her hand cupped around her mouth to amplify the sound. The band started with the film version of the song:

> _They all said life's just a bowl of cherries, but_  
>  _Sometimes it seems like anything but_  
>  _Think again_  
>  _Sometimes reputations outlive their applications_  
>  _Sometimes fires don't go out_  
>  _When you're done playing with them_

From her vantage point at the back of the bar, Rey could see pockets of people maneuvering towards the fishbowls, and throwing singles, change, even sometimes twenties into them. She had hopped off of the barstool, and was dancing along to Ben’s singing and playing when she realized that he had switched from the film version of the song to the original version of the song:

> _I have searched both_  
>  _Far and wide_  
>  _I've explored the deepest caverns_  
>  _Of my mind_  
>  _To try and find_  
>  _An explanation why_  
>  _I get this funny feeling_  
>  _Deep inside_  
>  _When you kiss me goodbye_  
>  _And when I lick between your thighs_  
>  _Sugar high_  
>  _Sugar high_

From the expressions on Hux and Sunshine’s faces, she was almost positive that Ben hadn’t told them about this switch. The lyrics combined with his eye contact though were causing her to both intensely blush and feel her body heat rise. They’d teased a bit over the week, but they hadn’t actually had any direct conversations about moving their relationship (was this a relationship yet? the start of one?) into a sexual capacity yet. If Rey’s body had a vote though, they’d be headed that direction shortly. 

When the song ended, Rey cheered as loud as she could, and then rushed to meet Ben backstage. “I take it your poor band mates didn’t know about the song flip there, did they?” 

Ben looked around, partially checking to see what else needed to be done, and partially to see who else was around. Rey could see the hunger in his eyes. “There hasn’t been a day this week where I haven’t thought about tasting you, and eating you until you screamed,” he told her lowly. 

Rey’s own eyes went wide. “Oh,” she breathed out.

He took her hand. “Come over. Please. I have food, drinks. Stay the night. If you want.”

She rubbed her thumb across the back of his hand, and grabbed her guitar case with her other hand. “I do want.” 

Once they were in the parking lot, Ben texted her his address, which Rey promptly texted to Rose, just in case. It was their standard procedure whenever they were staying the night with someone new. Rey put the address into her phone’s gps, but Ben was a good caravan driver, so it was easy to follow his Challenger to his complex. He had an apartment in a newly renovated complex nearby the university, not too terribly far from Rey’s neighborhood. The apartment was clean and organized, with polished wood floors in the main room and kitchen, and fluffy carpeting in the hall leading to the bedroom. Rey noticed that the kitchen was clean, and black and white, but not much past that. This was because as soon as they were in the apartment, she had only had time to set her guitar case and purse down, and take her jacket off, before Ben had taken her in his arms. One hand was fisted into her hair, the other hand was hot across her lower back. Ben’s lips felt like fire, and Rey gasped as she threw her own arms around his neck. Ben took this as an invitation to lift her up, and Rey hooked her legs around his waist, as he held tightly underneath her ass.

Rey was fairly certain she was being walked back into the bedroom. There were only so many rooms in the apartment. But, her eyes were closed, and she was still kissing Ben, focused on his lips and tongue. She was impressed that he made it through the place without bumping into anything, with the lights off. He laid her down onto the bed, at which point she was certain they had made it to the bedroom, and she giggled at herself. Ben reached up past her and turned on a bed lamp. She looked up at his face, and saw he was smiling down at her. Rey carded her fingers through his hair, as he leaned down and began to kiss down her jawline and neck, not sucking hard enough to leave a mark, but enough to feel the pull. He reached the neckline of her tee shirt and pulled it aside to kiss the gap of skin before her bra. Rey dragged her fingernails lightly down his sides, and he hissed as he inhaled, coming back up to kiss her. “Can I leave marks where your work coveralls will cover them?” he asked her when he pulled away.

Rey thought about it for a moment. “Yes. May I leave marks where a shirt will cover them on you?” 

Ben leaned down and nipped her ear gently, “Yes, please.” Rey responded by pulling the hem of his shirt up, and dragging her fingernails with a little bit more force up his sides. “God, Rey, that feels so good. I just want to make you feel good too.” Rey continued to pull his shirt off of him, and throw it towards what looked like a laundry basket. Ben helped to return the favor by pulling her shirt up and off, and laid it over a chair to the side of the bed. “May I?” he asked, motioning towards her bra.

Rey sat up, and helped unhook her bra from the back, while Ben pulled the straps off. The bra went where her shirt had, and he began to suck on one of her nipples, while he cupped and kneaded her other breast with his hand. Rey could feel her torso pulling itself off the bed involuntarily, and she let out a small yelp when he pinched her nipple. “Okay?” Ben asked, his breath cooling over her skin where his warm mouth had been. She nodded, rubbing her hands across his arms and shoulders. Ben kissed her ribcage. “I-” he started. “I meant what I said. I really want to go down on you. Would you like me to go down on you?”

He looked so earnest and nervous. Rey moved herself so that she could take his face in her hands, and kiss him thoroughly. “That would be wonderful Ben. I think our pants should go then, yeah?” They both quickly removed their jeans and underwear, and returned to each other. Ben was fully erect, and Rey was very aware of her earlier observation about his proportionality. She reached a hand down to lightly graze up his shaft, and was rewarded with a shaky exhale from Ben. She knew she was already wet, and she was hoping he would be very happy about it. Looking at the bed, and how tall Ben was, she asked, “How best should we do this, like diagonal, maybe?”

“Yeah, that would work great.” They moved some pillows up to the far corner for Rey, and Ben lowered himself to the juncture of her legs. Rey was suddenly a bit self-conscious, but Ben was looking at her as though he was gazing at a work of art. She spread her legs apart, and he moved his shoulders up under her thighs, holding onto her cheeks. She felt his warm breath first, then his tongue as he slowly licked her folds apart, drawing up towards to the most sensitive spot. He circled there for a moment, taking slow, languorous licks, trying to help her relax. “God, you taste delicious,” he breathed. Rey just moaned when he returned to licking her. He took his time, drawing out her pleasure, concentrating on the areas she responded to. When she moaned or shivered, he focused there, and when she gasped, he pushed more intensely. Rey felt overwhelmed by Ben’s ministrations, how amazing his tongue and lips and mouth felt licking and sucking on her. As he focused his concentration on her sensitive nerve bud, she could feel her orgasm building. She started to arch off of the bed, and grab at the sheets with her hands, clenching the material in her fists. The repetition of his tongue and lips directly tending to her nerve bundle drove her over the edge, spiraling out from her core, and causing her to cry out. Her thighs began to shake of their own volition, and Ben held on to them as she calmed down. 

He wiped his face with his hand, although it didn’t really matter to Rey, and came to kiss her back at the top of the bed. “Thank you so much for allowing me to do that,” he said to her.

She laughed at him a little, “Thank you for asking to do it. It felt amazing.” She kissed him again, and began to stroke him up and down with her hand. “Is there any chance I can return the favor?”

“Would you want to?”

“I wouldn’t be asking if I could if I didn’t want to.”

“Umm…this might be a bit of a presumption, but I don’t want to finish from oral if there’s the possibility of sex on the table.” 

Rey was feeling both very brave and very sure of herself. She also felt happier with Ben than she had in a long time. “If there are condoms in this apartment, then there’s the possibility of sex on the table,” she responded. “I have an iud, but safety until test results.”

Ben kissed her forehead. “I like you so much. Hold that thought.” He hopped off the bed, and she watched him head towards the bathroom. She heard cabinets being rustled, and he came back with a box of condoms. “No latex allergy?” he asked. Rey shook her head. “Cool. Then they’re here if we want them.”

He settled back into the bed, and Rey began to kiss him, scratching lightly across his chest. From there, she kissed her way down his chest and torso, biting into his muscles every so often as they appealed to her. She rubbed her breasts across him as she settled down between his legs. Cupping his balls with one hand, and slowly pumping him with another, Rey considered how to go about going down on him. While she didn’t have an active gag reflex, he was really rather formidable. She decided to just enjoy the sensations of licking up and down his shaft, and sucking on his head, while not worrying too much since she wasn’t trying to make him finish. She knew she was doing well when he leaned his head back and moaned, “Fuck.” She kept her hands moving and caressing him, and tried to pay attention to his movements, never going too fast so as to get him off. Ben’s soft moans made her so happy, she started to hum unconsciously. “Rey,” Ben breathed out, “Rey, the humming. It’s too much. It’s too good.” Rey stopped, and instead took one last deep suck on him. Then she crawled her way back up to him. “Thank you,” he managed to say.

Rey smiled at Ben, “No, thank you.” She laid on his chest, and they kissed slowly for a little while. She could feel him twitching though, and her own body was growing warm. She looked back up at him. “I really want to feel you inside of me, and I want to be able to see your face this time, if we can.”

Ben smiled at her. “I think we can manage that.” He rolled her over onto her back, and reached for a condom. Once ready, he positioned himself between her legs, on his knees. “I want to make sure you’re ready, ok?” Rey nodded. Ben reached down to feel where she was still plenty wet, but not yet stretched. He slipped one finger in, and began to rub her nub at the same time. As she relaxed into it, he slipped another finger into her, and then a third. When she felt relaxed at that point, he leaned forwards and began to enter her. Rey knew they were going to have to go slow, but it felt so amazing at the same time too. Ben was holding back, moving slowly in and out, only a little bit at a time. Finally, she could feel him resting entirely inside of her. Her legs were pulled up on either side of him, and he was leaning over top of her, holding himself up on his hands. The look on his face was glorious. He was happy, radiant, and smiling so broadly. She reached up to touch his cheek.

“You feel amazing,” she whispered.

“You do too,” he whispered back. “Are you ready for this?” Rey nodded again, and Ben began to thrust within her. His movements sent waves of pleasure coursing through her body, and as she watched Ben, she could see he felt similar. He leaned down and kissed her, connecting them in two places, and her body felt like it was vibrating apart. Ben pulled back, and started to thrust faster, reaching between them to play with her as well, willing her to finish again. Rey could feel her body begin to coil, her hands unable to keep still on Ben’s body, running themselves all over his arms, his shoulders, his chest, his neck. She became aware that she was moaning, and he was saying her name over and over. His body and hand hit exactly the right rhythm that she came suddenly with a scream, crying out, “Ben!” She could feel herself clenching around him, and then Ben was shouting himself, and collapsing, just to the side of her. 

They caught their breath, brushing hair out of each other’s eyes and off of each other’s faces. After a few moments, they cleaned up, used the bathroom, and collapsed back in bed. Ben promised an epic shower in the morning. “I’m holding you to that,” Rey quipped sleepily. He also promised brunch and coffee. Neither of them could care less which bands were actually playing for the bragging rights of first and second the next week. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took all of my willpower not to add "You know Ben Franklin didn't like to be lonely!" in Maz's declaration about the hundreds in the fishbowl. Because useless trivia about the founding fathers. But I couldn't decide who would snort and/or spittake at that historical tidbit as my segue into Hux and Phasma's high five. So instead it's an end note. Thank you for going on this journey with me.


	6. Week 5: The Finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It all comes down to one final battle as the last two bands perform to save Maz's bar. And maybe overshare their feelings in public a little bit too :)

[ ](https://imgur.com/8PzN2Sf)

Rey and Ben had both woken up on Sunday morning to text messages from their band mates replete with emojis, gifs, exclamation marks, and expletives. Both of their bands were in the showdown the final Saturday of the competition. Still naked and in bed with each other, Rey had looked over at Ben, and mock accused, “Oh! The enemy!” While she tried to clutch the sheets to her, Ben tackled her from across the bed, kissing her senseless. 

It had been a very good week. Ben’s shower truly was a shower of epic proportions. Two people fit - comfortably - and the spigot was high enough that he didn’t have to bend over backwards to rinse his hair. It was something of a showering marvel. A small bench seat inside the shower and gloriously hot water had lead to some more enjoyment of each other’s bodies. After the wonderful shower, they had gotten brunch at a little bistro called Chez Kryze. Then, they had spent Wednesday night at Rey’s apartment watching _Stumptown_. She had even shown him how to make popcorn from scratch on the stove. He stayed the night at her place that evening, even as he grumbled at the relatively smaller size of her bed in comparison to his.

Now they were back at Maz’s Place, and it was time for the final Battle of the Bands. Both of them had agreed that it didn’t really matter who won, since all the money was going to Maz. Secretly, Rey was pretty sure the bragging rights would get pulled out throughout the entirety of their relationship. It was definitely in relationship territory. They talked or texted everyday. They had spent a number of the nights that week back and forth at each other’s places, not just Wednesday. He held her hand in public. It was a something for sure. 

Rey knew she was head over heels way too fast. When she and the other gals had met to decide what to play this last week, and she had suggested her idea, they’d all been silent for a moment. Rose broke the silence first, “Oh, sweetie, you’ve got it bad, huh?” Rey had just nodded into her coffee. But in the end, it was still a great song, so they’d picked it, and they’d see where it took them. 

Rey stopped to check in with Leia after dropping off her gear and guitar backstage. “So, Ben and you? How are you?” Leia asked.

“We’re good. He’s really good,” Rey answered.

“I’m happy to hear that, really.”

Rey changed the subject, “How far off are we?” 

Leia smiled, “Just $500 in fishbowl money should do it. The bar money and everything else has been holding steady, and the fishbowls jumped to $3,000 last week.”

“That’s great! I’ll spread the news.” Rey headed out amongst the bar to where the other band members were all arrayed. Even though they weren’t competing tonight, everyone was still there. Los Cantina Boys had laid claim to one of the large booths to the side of the bar, with Lando and Threepio on one side, and Han and Chewie on the other. The Resistance had arrayed themselves along the bar. Poe and Paige were showing off the fishbowls for the final two bands, trying to out-do the other in their showcasing. For their part, Finn and Snap were sitting to the side and laughing, Finn so much he looked like tears were about to leak out of his eyes. 

The bar was packed for the last night of the competition, and Kylo & the Knights of Ren were first up in the head to head. Rey found Ben offstage, gave him a last kiss for luck, and headed to join up with Rose. Rose had indeed spoken with Gwen about Hux at the end of the night on Saturday. Apparently, the two of them had had a rather successful first date earlier that week, and Rey was happy for her best friend.

Rey was still amazed at the difference a month could make in her life. Prior to February, she had hated Kylo Ren. Now, at the end of the month, she wasn’t entirely sure that she wasn’t in love with Ben Solo. 

The band stepped on stage as the lights shifted, and the crowd exploded, Rey and Rose along with them. Ben took the microphone, no trace of the nervousness from last week. “We’re Kylo & the Knights of Ren, and we’re here to make sure Maz gets to keep her bar!” he shouted. The bar cheered even louder if possible. The band jumped straight into playing then with no further introductions. Rey grabbed Rose’s hand, letting out a bit of a yelp. They had started to play Foo Fighters’ “Everlong.” It was one of her favorite songs - a fact which she hadn’t told Ben yet - but she felt like somehow he knew anyways. As in the weeks before where they had found each other, Ben found her in the crowd, and sang just to her:

> _Slow, how you wanted it to be_  
>  _I'm over my head_  
>  _Out of her head she sang_  
>  _And I wonder_  
>  _When I sing along with you_  
>  _If everything could ever feel this real forever_  
>  _If anything could ever be this good again_  
>  _The only thing I'll ever ask of you_  
>  _You've got to promise not to stop when I say when_

The room was electric when the song was over. The bar was on its feet and everyone was cheering. People were whooping and shouting. Finn and Poe were twirling in a circle, and Han was beaming like the proud parent he truly was. Ben was grinning from the stage, and Sunshine was jumping up and down onstage with his fists in the air, his bass bobbing along with him. 

But then, first Hux’s unexpected smile had disappeared. He came out from behind his drum set, and tapped Ben on the shoulder. They went to Sunshine, and the three men were quickly offstage without breaking things down. Rey and Rose turned around to look towards the entrance, and what had caught the guys’ attention. And there he was, the man of the evil hour himself, Snoke. Wearing a deep brown, three piece suit with a golden tie, he was entirely out of place in Maz’s bar. He hadn’t taken more than two steps into the establishment, when Maz herself had jumped on top of the bar, brandishing an old baseball bat. “GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY BAR YOU POCK-FACED CREEP!” she bellowed. “I will bring you your money at the end of the night when I’m good and ready. Now, OUT! You can wait on the other side of the door. Out! Out! Out, damn spot! OUT!”

As her tirade had gone on, the taller and brawnier patrons of the bar had ranged behind her, Chewie first and closest. He had been quickly followed by Han, Finn, Ben, Sunshine, Hux, Phasma, and many of Maz’s other regulars. 

Snoke smiled cruelly. “Well, I doubt a few hours will matter much. I can wait outside. Such a shame to see such promise being thrown away with such riffraff here though,” he said eyeing Ben. Hux and Sunshine both put their hands on Ben’s shoulders to keep him from doing anything rash. 

Snoke exited the bar, and the patrons turned their attention back to Maz. “Well, we’re still short a little bit dearies. Leia, could you do some quick counting? Chewie, dear, would you help me down?” Chewie lifted Maz bodily off the bar, and Leia pulled out her notebook to start going over the last-minute accounting. The guys headed back to disassemble the stage, while the girls began to get ready for their set. 

Rey caught up with Ben offstage. “Hey,” she started, setting a hand on his bicep, “are you okay?”

“Honestly? No. I’m so fucking angry. That we could put in all of this work, and Maz could still lose it all. But I’m working on it.” Ben ran a hand through his hair, and Rey snuck in under his arm to give him a bear hug. “Thanks sweetheart,” he mumbled into the top of her head.

The Rebelles finished setting up for their song, and once they were ready, Kaydel asked Leia from the stage, “How close are we?”

“Well, we need to sell about 100 more drinks -”

Lando interrupted her, by booming out, “Next drink for everyone is on my tab, and Leia, add $5 to the stash for each drink ordered on my tab.” Everyone at the bar cheered loudly for Lando, and a number of customers started lining up to order.

“Okay, thank you Lando. So, drinks are taken care of. We still need about $250 in the fishbowls - no, I won’t tell you which one - just consider them combined for now. That should do it,” Leia wrapped up.

“Alright,” Kaydel addressed the crowd. “You heard the good lady. Drink up and feed the fishes!” More raucous cheering careened around the bar. “We’d like to give you a minute to get your drinks, get comfortable, settle in with your friends, with your loved ones, and we’re actually going to bring it down a few levels. Weird, I know? But our girl here Rey is a great singer, and we want to show her off, and she has some very pretty words she wants to sing, so be nice to her okay?” The bar cheered again, but Kaydel’s words had the desired effect, and the crowd quieted down.

Rey took a breath, closed her eyes, let the air back out, and then started the melody that she had transposed from piano to her guitar. She opened her eyes, and found Ben in the crowd, beginning to sing:

> _All of the lights land on you_  
>  _The rest of the world fades from view_  
>  _And all of the love I see_  
>  _Please please say you feel it too_  
>  _And all of the noise I hear inside_  
>  _Restless and loud, unspoken and wild_  
>  _And all that you need to say_  
>  _To make it all go away_  
>  _It's that you feel the same way too_

Rey was certain that it was too early for this. It was terrifying. She was putting herself out on a ledge, _But that’s the point, right?_ she thinks. _And if he says no, well, it was just a song, not a message, not a plea._ She kept singing:

> _And all of the steps that led me to you_  
>  _And all of the hell I had to walk through_  
>  _But I wouldn't trade a day for the chance to say_  
>  _My love, I'm in love with you_  
>  _And I know_  
>  _The scariest part is letting go_  
>  _'Cause love is a ghost you can't control_  
>  _I promise you the truth can't hurt us now_  
>  _So let the words slip out of your mouth_  
>  _I know that we're both afraid_  
>  _We both made the same mistakes_  
>  _An open heart is an open wound to you_  
>  _And in the wind there's a heavy choice_  
>  _Love has a quiet voice_  
>  _Still you mind, now I'm yours to choose_

There was a moment when The Rebelles finished playing “the words” by Christina Perri, when Rey had finished singing, where the bar was actually quiet. Then, everyone started cheering. Rey was still looking towards Ben, and he was still smiling at her. _There’s hope_ , she thought.

She and her band finished tearing down everything for the stage, and cleaning up all of their gear. Ben was waiting for her backstage. “Hi,” she said, suddenly very shy and nervous.

“Hi,” he responded, taking her hands and pulling her into a hug. He held her in silence for a few minutes, while the other women filter back out into the bar. Then, he reached down under her chin, and tipped her head up. He kissed her long and deeply, a promise for later. “Rey, I don’t know where this is going, or if we’re going too fast. But I know I care about you, very, very much.” He paused, and Rey pulled her head away to bury it into his chest, feeling a little rejected. “Hey,” he started, and dug her head back out to look up at him, and kissed her again. “I love you too, is what I meant to say.” 

Rey laughed lowly, mostly at herself. “I love you, Ben Solo.” She kissed him one more time. “Now, let’s see what we can do about saving this bar.”

She dragged him semi-forcibly to stand near her while she talked with Leia about their progress, and watched them attempt some small talk. Rose and Hux came up to stand with them too, which provided a sort of buffer. Rey realized that Gwen, Rose, and Ben were all correct, and Hux was rather quite nice when you got to know him. People still came up and bought drinks, and Leia kept tabs of Lando’s offer by patron, but as it ticked closer and closer to 2:00am, they were down to the wire. Sunshine had come behind the bar to help Leia count and organize the money, and Gwen and Hux were checking their accounts, if it came down to it. 

At the end of the night, between them all - the standard bar money, the extra drink tips, the fishbowls, everything - Maz made $17,512 on top of her regular operating revenue. They debated dropping all of the cash in Snoke’s lap, or waiting until it could be deposited to write a check from Maz’s business account. Ben and Hux convinced her though that he would default her if they waited for the latter, and he would conveniently “lose” some of the cash for the former, satisfying though it might be. In the end, Gwen wrote one check, Hux wrote another, and Chewie delivered them both with twin finger salutes to Snoke in his valet car outside. Maz thanked them profusely, and sent them home with overstuffed manila envelopes that they assured her wouldn’t worry their financial advisers one iota. 

Before they were about to leave, Leia pulled Rey aside, and whispered, “So you know, The Rebelles won. Also, I think maybe you should come for family dinner some week. Try and convince my son we miss him. I make a mean brisket.” 

Rey smiled at the other woman, “I’ll try, I will.”

Ben was standing with both of their guitar cases. “Hey, do you want to grab some late night Mexican, or just go home?”

Rey ducked under his arm as they walked out to her car. “Let’s just go home, Ben. I’ll tell you who won when we get there,” she grinned devilishly as they got into the Chevelle, and headed into out into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been an absolute joy to write for this exchange! I sincerely hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> And as promised earlier, Sugar High playlist on Spotify can be found [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5yuThBF6lk7F6T7Dj0r0dz).


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